The Long Walk
by Pavell
Summary: For Joshua Cook and Evelina Joy, it's a long walk to the Silver Conference - but neither trainer is battling to be the very best. A coming-of-age story of adventure, friendship, and being a young adult in the world of Pokémon.
1. Chlorophyll Dreams

**Prelude – Chlorophyll Dreams**

I …

It was the first thing that Bulbasaur thought, every time he was recalled. I. _Me_. The thing that is me, that is not another thing. This sort of circular thinking was rather more difficult to frame, outside. Here, it was obvious - something thought, and that thinking thing is me. It was a strange thing; once you know what 'I' means, all other thinking comes easily.

It was peaceful, here. It was always peaceful here. Within the circles of the Poké Ball, he didn't have a body. The thinking I was all there was, the ineffable sense of _me_, the _me_ that remained even when nothing else did. Away from the constant sensation of the world, from the experience of having a body, he could rest in a way that just wasn't possible outside the Poké Ball. If he chose to, he could perceive some of what was happening in the world. Sometimes he could hear his Trainer, talking to him.

It was peaceful, here. Within the circles of the Poké Ball, Bulbasaur dreamed his chlorophyll dreams.

I …


	2. Novice

**Chapter One – Novice**

_I will not go back. I won't let Dad think he's right again._

It was early morning, and the Pokémon Centre was near-deserted. The sky outside was just clouding over, and the few trainers that had stayed the night were heading west towards Violet City. The Pokémon Centre was relatively small, serving the quiet roads east of Route 30. A solitary trainer remained, seated heavily on a threadbare pouffe by one of the low lobby tables. A young man in his early twenties, he had a serious expression on his face as he stared unseeingly at the Poké Ball in his hand.

_I won't go back._ Doubts had been running around his mind since he had left home. He laid down his Poké Ball on the glass top of the table. His reflection stared back at him – an oval face, with calm, dark eyes. A head of tightly-curled black hair framed his features, half-hiding his ears. Narrow framed glasses rested on his nose, slightly bent out of shape from long use.

"What's the matter, young man?" a cheery voice asked.

"Hm?" he replied, slightly startled. One of the Centre nurses stood looking down at him with an air of mild compassion. She was clad in casuals rather than her uniform, apparently off-duty.

"Oh. Nurse Joy. I'm fine, thanks." He focused on the bracelet around her wrist – lapis lazuli beads, finished with a flower in the shape of a forget-me-not bloom.

"You like my bracelet?" Joy said, smiling.

"I'm glad _you _do. Unless I'm much mistaken, I made it."

"That was you? I thought a girl was behind Metal Earth jewellery," Joy laughed. "It's so pretty, why'd you become a trainer?"

"Are you this friendly with all strangers?" he said, half-joking.

Joy sat down opposite him, shuffling around a bit to get comfortable. "Is that what bothers you? Well, my name is Christine, since all my family are called Joy. I guess I'm not a stranger any more, am I?"

"That's the most absurd thing I've heard in a while," he said with a weak laugh. "I'm Josh. From Mulberry Town."

"So why'd you become a trainer?" Christine persisted.

"Well ..."

Essentially, it had started back in high school. In his fifth year, the careers advisor convinced him to pursue Modern Kalosian. Her logic made sense – many companies did business with Kalos, she'd said, and they would all need Kalosian speakers. Two years later, he went on to study Kalosian at Mulberry University.

His careers advisor was right, after a fashion. The problem was that the companies that were growing and hiring fresh-faced, linguistically capable graduates were in Goldenrod or Olivine City. Mulberry Town isn't an affluent town. Josh managed to make a little money from his university job as a courier, but the hours were very inconsistent and the pay, low. Selling homemade jewellery online was the only way he'd been able to fund his trainer journey.

"Let's just say my profits were small. Maybe I can make enough from this journey to start up Metal Earth as a proper business, I don't know."

"Yeah, it's difficult out there," Christine said sympathetically, but without much conviction. "What starter did you get? Let me guess … totodile, right?"

Josh gave her a slightly chilly look. "I didn't apply for a Johto starter. I already had Bulbasaur," he said, holding up his Poké Ball. "Dad's friends with a Kanto League breeder. The guy had a couple of newborns going spare one year."

"Oh, yeah? You think it's up to the task?"

"I hope so."

The last thing Josh wanted to was call it quits and go home. He had waited an extra hour before leaving the house, just in case. But Dad had gone to work, just as he'd promised. Because as far as he was concerned, pokémon training was a dead-end job that would see him quit within the month. They'd had more than one flaming row over it. Josh couldn't bear to go home, to see that stern face looking back at him. Dad wouldn't be angry. Worse, he'd be disappointed, shaking his head in quiet vindication.

* * *

Later that morning, Josh swung his bag over his shoulders and left the Pokémon Centre. Nurse Joy had told him the closest Pokémon Gym was in Violet City if he wanted to challenge the Gym Leader, but he didn't quite feel ready for Violet yet. Josh didn't like cities very much. He liked being close to trees, like the ones that lined the road east of Route 30 – a wood of smooth-limbed beeches, their naked branches full of pidgey that fluttered onto the path to scratch about in the dirt. As he tramped tirelessly westwards, Josh smiled at the milder March weather. It was a good day for walking, especially with the outfit he'd developed after years of long walks.

Good, sturdy boots, the kind that would withstand a geodude being dropped on them, that was essential. Sturdy jeans, too, black, but that was just his preference. This pair had four nice, big pockets for carrying bits and pieces like snacks and water. Like many trainers, he carried his only occupied Poké Ball on his belt. He adjusted the backpack on his shoulders. It was handmade from hazel and wickerwork, with a fabric lining for waterproofing. A parting gift from Mum, and an easy construction for her.

As he walked, Josh thought about Mulberry Town. 'Black by day, red by night' a Unovan diplomat had once said of his hometown. For over a hundred years, the town had been the sooty, beating industrial heart of Johto; forging steel, mining coal, building zeppelins and locomotives. But the industry started to disappear during the seventies, and with it the town's prosperity.

The March weather was still a bit chilly, and Josh was glad of his jumper. Black, like his jeans. Or at least, it was supposed to be. Wear had turned it grey, and thinner than it used to be. Over the top of it he wore a dark brown jacket, partly to keep the wind out, but also to keep Bulbasaur's own snacks on hand.

The sound of something charging through the wood broke his reverie. Up ahead the path veered off to the left, round the foot of a hill that sloped up towards the south. Josh stopped up short, and listened. The typically sparse beech leaf litter muffled the noise, but he could pick out two sets of sounds - a faint, frantic scurrying and someone running flat-out. A pack of rattata burst from the treeline, desperately trying to carry a backpack between them. Hardly a moment later a furious girl followed, trying to pull something from her pocket – a Poké Ball, maybe.

"Drop it or I pull your tails off!" she screamed. Josh seized a rock and hurled it at the gang, by sheer luck catching one clean in the face. The rattata promptly scattered like little purple comets. The girl retrieved her backpack with a mixture of triumph and embarrassment, shyly throwing him a grateful look. She was somewhere in her early twenties, a little taller than him, with a willowy figure. She was wearing a burgundy coat with coffee brown trousers; a battery of pouches on her belt, and hiking boots on her feet.

"Thanks … I can't believe they managed to steal my backpack," she said, still acutely embarrassed. "Who knew wild rattata could work together so well?"

"Damn rattata," Josh agreed, distracted.

"Why are you looking at me like that," she said resignedly.

"Your surname isn't Joy, by any chance, is it?"

And there it was. For though her dress sense and temper were nothing like the nurses who so diligently ran Pokémon Centres everywhere, this girl looked exactly like a young Joy. The same bright blue eyes, the same shape of the face, the same hairstyle and colour. Her expression, however, was now of annoyance.

"Yes, I am a Joy, no I'm not in a Pokémon Centre, yes I am aware it's unusual," she sighed. "Any questions?" she added sarcastically.

"Not at this time, m'lady," Josh said, deadpan.

The young Joy stood and glared at him, hands on hips. Then she noticed the Poké Ball at his belt. "Hey, you have a pokémon! Why didn't you just battle the rattata instead of blindly throwing rocks?"

"I … don't know," Josh confessed. "It didn't occur to me to battle with Bulbasaur."

Joy sighed. "You're a strange trainer," she said matter-of-factly. "I suppose the least I can do is offer you some of my supplies."

* * *

Seated on the tussocky grass at the edge of the wood, Josh was beginning to notice something else distracting about this strange Joy. A good-natured observer might call her eating 'enthusiastic'. Josh watched with a kind of vague annoyance as she tore apart a cheese sandwich like she hadn't eaten in days. By contrast he just chewed on a granola bar.

"You never told me your name. Here. Have some fruit," Joy said between mouthfuls of cheese.

"I'm fine, really. I'm Josh, from Mulberry Town."

"Don't be silly, you helped save this fruit. Mulberry Town, that's not a big place, is it?"

_It _is _a big place, just not an important place,_ Josh thought, quite impressed that she managed to get such a coherent sentence out while simultaneously finishing what was left of her lunch. "I only know half of your name. What do I call you?"

"Evelina. Evelina Joy. Tea, at least?"

"I have my own, thanks. So what takes a Joy away from the Pokémon Centre?"

Evelina sipped at her tea and said nothing, giving him a piercing look. "I'm taking the Gym challenge," she said defensively. "It's not that I don't like looking after pokémon, I just don't want to be in a Pokémon Centre all my life!"

Josh shrugged indifferently, and watched Evelina defuse. "Well, technically I'm taking the Gym challenge too," he said. "But it's not something I've been dreaming to do. Bulbasaur and I, we're just going to see where it takes us. So we're on the way to Azalea Town, I think. I heard there was a Gym there, and it's near to the forest. It sounds like as good a place as any to earn our first Badge."

"Uh-huh. How about a battle then? One-on-one, no time limit," Joy said, drawing a Poké Ball from her pocket.

Josh automatically hesitated. Bulbasaur was in good health, true, but his only offensive attack was Tackle. He wasn't sure if that was enough for a battle. "I don't know. I know a little battle theory, but honestly I'm a novice."

"So you'll want a lot of practice, right?" Evelina said brightly.

_Blast it, _Josh thought. _She's right. I have to start battling sometime._ "Alright," he said. "Alright, let's battle."

"Yay!" Evelina cried, jumping up and putting some distance between them to form an impromptu battlefield.

Josh expanded his own Poké Ball. "Go Bulbasaur," he said, tossing the Ball underarm. "Battle's on!"

"Go Ledyba!" Evelina called. The five star pokémon hovered in front of Bulbasaur, waving her arms aggressively. Bulbasaur growled back at her and thumped the ground with a foot.

"How did you get a ledyba to battle away from the swarm?" Josh asked.

"We've been together a long time," Evelina grinned. "You'd better believe she's ready to battle! Go, Tackle attack!"

"Out of the way!" Josh yelled on impulse. Bulbasaur leapt aside as Ledyba buzzed by, throwing up dust in her wake. He charged, trying to Tackle her in turn, but she was too fast and climbed out of the way.

"Again!" Evelina yelled.

"Uh, Leech Seed!" Josh ordered in an attempt to change strategy. Ledyba plunged down at Bulbasaur and hastily swerved aside as the Leech Seed nearly struck her wing case. "Start moving, don't let Ledyba have it all her own way!"

Bulbasaur shuffled round in a circle, trying to keep his opponent in view. He came to a halt near to where his Leech Seed had landed, just as Ledyba attempted a third attack run. She came in fast and low; this time Bulbasaur stood his ground.

"Comet Punch!"

The quiescent Leech Seed suddenly snapped up, flailing tendrils groping madly. Ledyba panicked and threw herself into reverse. She buzzed something at her trainer in complaint.

"Hm. Quite cunning," Evelina said. "Ok, Ledyba, show them your Supersonic!" Ledyba opened her mouth wide, and a piercing ringing noise washed over Bulbasaur. Josh could just hear it too, a discordant squeal that set his teeth on edge. _Ok, ok, I can figure this out. Leech Seed will slow it down!_

"Bulbasaur, Leech Seed!" he cried, but Bulbasaur was shaking his head and didn't seem to hear him. "Leech Seed, I said!" he yelled. This time Bulbasaur heard the command and fired a seed from the tip of his bulb. The seed spun away several feet from Ledyba, but even close to a clean hit.

"This is our chance! Finish this with Comet Punch!" Evelina ordered in triumph. Her pokémon crashed into Bulbasaur with a barrage of punches from all six fists. Dazed from the attack, Bulbasaur could only retreat and try to turn away from the worst of the blows. "That's enough, Ledyba. We've won," Joy said. "I don't want to hurt Bulbasaur more than I need to."

Josh sighed and held up his Poké Ball. His dazed pokémon was drawn back into the Ball in a flash of red light; Ledyba settled herself down on her trainer's head. "Your Bulbasaur's in pretty good health for a house pokémon," Evelina said cheerfully, offering her hand. Josh took it without a smile. A one-sided battle wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, but she _had _won fair and square.

"Don't give up," she said, "and maybe I'll see you again."


	3. A Real Trainer

**Chapter Two – A Real Trainer**

"Alright, Bulbasaur, once more. Tackle!"

Bulbasaur spun to face his opponent, a lively wooper. Its trainer was a boy from one of the little villages in the outskirts of the highland forest. He was an impetuous young lad, full dire threats and boasts of power. It wasn't lost on Josh that he was battling a truant schoolboy. Apparently the lad had been waiting in the woodland ready to ambush a passing trainer. Josh watched Bulbasaur charge over the damp mat of conifer needles with a smile. Bulbasaur had grown used to battle in a matter of days and he seemed to like it.

"Tackles won't stop Wooper! You'll be sorry you came across me!" the boy yelled. He hopped excitedly from foot-to-foot. "Wooper, Water Gun!"

"Ignore it, Bulbasaur," Josh said, arms folded.

Wooper hopped up onto a dead log and spat a pressurised stream of water at Bulbasaur. Undaunted, Bulbasaur charged through the spray; with a leap and a battle cry he knocked Wooper from its perch with a flying Tackle. Wooper tumbled off downhill and crashed into a pile of dead needles.

"That's victory, kid," said Josh.

"No it's not! Wooper isn't done yet, he's still going!" the kid shouted back at him.

"Kid, it's not moving. You've lost this battle, let it rest."

"We hadn't lost a battle in weeks till you came along! That pokémon isn't even from Johto! Wooper, return!"

Josh shook his head in disapproval, watching the truant boy run off downhill on the woodland path. He'd been getting that kind of response more often than he'd like these past few days. Some kid would challenge him and refuse to take no for an answer, then find some excuse to blame him for their loss. Bulbasaur was enjoying the exercise, but Josh wondered whether he would have got better practice following the south-eastern road instead.

Bulbasaur loped back up the hill, still full of energy. He rumbled his contentment as Josh rubbed his head and bulb. Josh had always thought his pokémon was special. Bulbasaur was greener than usual for his species, his bulb a rich mossy colour. The irregular olive markings on his face looked a bit like a sunburst exploding across his brow. Time out in the fresh air was working its subtle magic. Bulbasaur had never been an _un_healthy pokémon, but the journey was certainly putting some definition on his muscles.

Josh sat himself down on a log, absent-mindedly feeding Bulbasaur nitrogen supplements. The journeying itself wasn't bad, at least, walking in the clean air among trees that had been left to grow as they pleased. Mulberry Town was not a tree-friendly place. Trees were automatically seen as safety hazards, to be crudely pollarded well before old age could rot their wooden hearts.

"But we haven't learnt enough, have we old friend?" he murmured.

"Bulba?"

"These battles are too easy for you. You've had no room to grow. Too easy for me, too …" Josh thought about the past few days, and all the times he and Bulbasaur had battled. They weren't battling trainers, they were battling kids and housewives with the family pokémon. Any serious trainer would still squash them flat.

"Do you remember our battle against Joy a couple of weeks ago? With her ledyba? We could do with more battles like that."

Bulbasaur leapt back and barked indignantly. "Don't give me that look. I know you like to win but the Gym Leader's not going to be using pokémon like that wooper."

Bulbasaur still looked uncertain. Josh heaved a sigh. His pokémon was easily pleased, that was the problem. It was his own fault. Pokémon tended to pick up on the habits of their trainers, and Josh had never been seriously competitive before.

"Come on. It's getting late – we had better get to the next Pokémon Centre before dusk."

* * *

Route 32 runs southwards from Violet City, following the sea on the east and skirting the hilly forests to the west. The coastward road is well-maintained but long, passing by fishing villages and travel lodges, but the western side is the route less travelled, splitting into hilly forest paths that connect isolated highland villages. The villagers cultivate small orchards and plantations, powered by their own little solar or wind generators. Through those pine forests Josh walked on, trying to find a path passing north of Union Cave. The sun slid down in the sky, bringing a cold evening just as the forest path gave way to a village lane, bordered on either side by razz berry canes. A middle-aged woman in rough gardener's wear stood gazing pensively at the canes.

"Excuse me?" Josh called. "Whereabouts is the Pokémon Centre?"

"You're a little late. The Centre here closed down ten months ago. The nearest Centre is down at Union Wood now," she replied, still concentrating on the razz berries.

"What? But it's on the map …" Josh said, double-checking his Pokégear.

"I'm afraid news from here takes a while to reach the outside world. Maps tend to be a little out of date."

"Josh pinched the bridge of his nose. With a bit of imagination he _could_ supplement what provisions he had with wild foods from the forest, but there was nothing that could be done about sleeping. "Fantastic. This poses a problem."

The woman turned to look at him for the first time. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and a kind, quizzical expression. "You see, I was hoping to stay at the Pokémon Centre for the night. I have no tent and could have done with using the cafeteria …"

"You shouldn't try and stay out in the woods all night," the woman replied, her face all concern. "You can stay at the house for the night; my husband will make room for you on the sofa."

"Would you do that? I could pay you for the night," Josh said.

"Oh, nonsense! I would not dream of it. You can call me Mary, by the way."

"I'm most grateful for this," said Josh as Mary led him down the lane, winding round to a house tucked away behind a prickly holly hedge. The house was a sprawl of extensions; some quite old, others obviously modern. The front door had a fresh spray of sugar pine fastened to it, opening to reveal a hallway as eclectic in age as the exterior. Mary led him inside, kindly but firmly insisting that he remove his boots. From the end of the hallway came an array of familial, domestic sorts of sounds. A man stepped round into the hallway, drying his hands on a kitchen towel. Tall, with a neat brown moustache, he threw Josh an appraising glance.

"Another one for dinner, Greg," said Mary. "The lad was trying to stay at the old Centre."

Greg gave an approving nod. "Come on through," he said.

The kitchen was scrupulously clean, except where it was populated by Mary's two small daughters. They pestered Josh with questions all the way through a huge dinner despite their mother's admonishments. Josh answered them as best he could, trying not to seem aloof. Greg said little, but his wife couldn't be hospitable enough. Eventually Josh just had to ask the question that had been bothering him all through the meal.

"It's really nice of you to offer me all this, but how is it you have this much to spare?"

"The fridge broke again," one of the girls piped up.

"Mouth closed when you chew, Stephanie," said Greg in his slow voice. "Our solar generator hasn't been working as it should. Some mornings I wake to find the battery dead, and then there's nothing to power the irrigation lines. It's no big problem for an orchard owner, but we've got razz berries. They need their water."

"We've been over the generator a hundred times. There's nothing wrong with it. And it's our electrical power for the house, too. The food needs eating, you feel free," Mary said. Josh sat in thought for a moment. There was something vaguely familiar about the story.

"It happens in the mornings? So you've never found the battery dead halfway through the day?" Josh asked. Greg shook his head wearily. "I've an idea. I'll watch your generator tonight and see what happens. Call it payment for your kindness."

"Oh no, you don't have to pay us, son," Greg replied hastily. "I was going to do the same myself in any case."

"Sir, I insist. At least I can be an extra pair of eyes."

"Well, if I can't change your mind. We'll go out at ten."

* * *

It was nearing midnight, and Josh had been half-hidden behind a bush with Greg for nearly two hours. The solar generator lay seven or eight yards in front of them, a concrete shed at the centre of a web of wires. This far away from the cities, the moon cast just enough light to see by. Josh thought he could see shadows moving oddly in the treeline behind the shed. Was it a trick of the dim moonlight? Was it something moving?

Josh glanced back at Greg crouched stock-still beside him. He seemed to have a similar brand of quiet stoicism to his own father. Dad never said very much, at least not with words. No, Dad communicated as much with body language, with its own vast lexicon … except when Josh chose to do things his own way. It didn't matter whether it was about how best to sell his jewellery or whether pokémon training was a good idea – he would incessantly keep trying to cross swords over it. It was suffocating, and frankly one of the main reasons Josh couldn't stand to stay in Mulberry much longer.

The shadows under the trees were still moving oddly, as if trying to convince Josh that they had never moved at all … and then, low whines, drawn-out like stereo feedback, sounded out across the clearing.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered to Greg. Greg nodded slowly, trying to see where it came from. Then, shadows detached themselves from the treeline, gliding into the clearing. One hovered above the shed, silhouetted against the sky. It looked like a sphere with two crescent shapes on either side. "Magnemite!" Josh said in an excited whisper.

"Hey!" Greg roared, scaring Josh out his skin. In an almighty cracking of bush branches he jumped out of their hiding place, torch brandished at a trio of magnemite that were following the wires to the generator shed. They pivoted on the spot in alarm, staring inscrutably at Greg with their wide eyes, unblinking in the light of the torch beam. Then as suddenly as they had arrived, they scattered in different directions.

"You too, laggard!" Greg bellowed. There was one left, still hovering defiantly. Josh jumped up, filled with a strange excitement. He snatched at his belt for Bulbasaur.

"Go Bulbasaur! Time to battle!"

Out popped Bulbasaur in a blaze of light, blinking curiously at the magnemite hovering before him. Magnemite swooped; Bulbasaur leapt at the metallic pokémon without hesitation. The two collided in mid-air, Bulbasaur landing on his feet with a thump. Magnemite hesitated, as if startled.

"Another Tackle, go!" said Josh. He was confident Bulbasaur could win a battle of Tackle attacks. His pokémon duelled with the magnemite, trying to wear down its resolve as they leapt and dodged. The magnemite swooped in high from the left and it looked as though it might score a dead on hit. Josh opened his mouth to order Bulbasaur to dodge though he knew it would be too late.

Out from under Bulbasaur's bulb whipped a green vine that swatted magnemite aside. Bulbasaur spun round with a growl, extruding another and seizing magnemite with both vines. Magnemite started to whine, growing quickly in volume and pitch till it passed beyond hearing. Supersonic! Josh thought. As he frantically tried to think of a way to counter-attack, he saw Bulbasaur slowly glare up at the magnemite in his grasp.

"Could it be …?" Josh whispered. With a deft flick of its vines Bulbasaur flung the magnemite into the generator shed. There was a sharp ping of metal on concrete – and then the magnemite was drifting to the ground, spinning drunkenly. Josh plunged his hand into a pocket, grabbing the first Poké Ball he found.

"Go!" he yelled, throwing it clumsily over arm. The ball spun erratically in flight, glanced off the dazed magnemite, sucked the dazed pokémon inside, fell to the ground. There was dead silence but for the sound of the Poké Ball rattling fretfully as the button light flashed on and off.

… _ping!_

"... I caught it." Josh picked the now-silent ball up. The plastic felt cold in his hands. "My first capture." Bulbasaur wandered over and sat himself down next to his master, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. As Josh looked at the ball shining in the moonlight, for the first time since leaving Mulberry Town he felt like a real trainer.


	4. The Girl from Cherrygrove City

**Chapter Three - The Girl from Cherrygrove City**

The sun slid down in the sky, bringing a cold evening. The wind tasted of sea-salt as it came gusting in over Route 32. Up in the branches of a sturdy ash, a girl sat giving the landscape a critical look. North and south ran the road – tarmacked, and cobbled on either side to accommodate the frequent foot traffic. Westwards, a dirt track led to the uplands and then to the pine forests of the hills. To the south and east the trees thickened, marching on until they became the Union Wood. Somewhere hidden in a fold in the land lay the village of the same name, and the last Pokémon Centre of Route 32.

Evelina huffed ruefully. It was no good. Both she and her pokémon were tired from the day, her hair was full of salt, and she needed a hot meal. Whether she liked it or not, she'd have to spend the night at Union Pokémon Centre.

A soft yowl from above made her look up. Her meowth has found his way into the higher branches of the tree, where he now stood smirking shiftily down at his Trainer. He had an air of coiled spring about him, with the ragged whiskers and scarred face of a cunning old street tom. Evelina looked back at the landscape, pretending to take no more notice of her pokémon. She swung a hand casually down to her sock, watching Meowth out of the corner of her eye.

"Return!" The recall beam struck Meowth mid-leap. My turn to smirk now, Evelina thought. Hiding the Poké Ball in her sock had paid off this time. She wasn't sure why Meowth insisted on playing this game. He was never disobedient in battle, and even if she missed him the first few times he would always return to his Poké Ball in the end. Maybe the street tom was just making a point.

Evelina clambered down from her tree and headed off down the southward road. The twilit air was filled with the sounds of pokémon bedding down for the night – pidgey muttering in the trees, wild mareep calling to one another in the fields. An ekans eyed her suspiciously from the long grass before slithering away on business of its own. Evelina took no notice. She was just too tired, stumping rather than striding down the road, her boots clacking on the cobbles. She was beginning to regret her decision to go looking for krabby among the rock pools that morning at low tide. The clashing waves had nearly drenched her to her skin as they foamed about the rocks. A waterproof jacket had staved off the worst of it, but even so her hair felt like it would crackle if she tried to run her fingers through it.

The world turned to shades of grey in the gathering dusk. The crescent moon replaced the sun, and the shadows under the trees deepened to a charcoal black. Union Wood was now as dark as a cave, though the ribbon of the road stood out starkly in the moonlight. The sight of dark shapes flitting around in the air made Evelina pause her march. Their flight was rather erratic, but there were definitely three pokémon circling above her head. They were being careful not to silhouette themselves against the sky, keeping to the shadows cast by the trees. Something about their interest made Evelina want to reach for her Poké Balls … instead she reached for her Pokédex.

_Be-beep!_

"Zubat, the Bat Pokémon. Zubat rest in caves during the day, and emerge at nightfall. Zubat have been known to attack solitary travellers on the road."

_Just a trio of zubat stretching their wings_, she told herself, biting her lip. _There's no reason to think that they'll attack. Maybe they're just curious. Yes, just three curious zubat, just stretching their wiiings!_ – something swooped past her ear, leathery wings flapping madly as it tried to land. She shrieked and beat it off. She grabbed a Poké Ball – Meowth's Poké Ball – and popped it open with shaking hands.

Meowth instantly swiped at a passing zubat, hissing with rage. "Double Team!" his Trainer called out, and he leapt to obey. Evelina saw Meowth copy himself six, seven, eight times, fending off the zubat with precise Cut attacks. In the moonlight she could hardly follow the battle. The ringleader swooped in again. Meowth climbed his Trainer like a tree and took a flying leap off her shoulder, claws outstretched and howling. He collided with the zubat, bearing it to the ground, raining down Fury Swipes.

"That's enough Meowth. To me," Evelina called, her voice shaky. The other zubat had fled in the face of Meowth's ire. Meowth backed off reluctantly, returning to his Trainer for a scratch behind the ears. Evelina saw his chest rising and falling rapidly, though the proud tom tried to hide it. He was tired, but he'd found energy to battle when she needed him to.

"Well fought, you. Take a rest, huh? Let me take care of you now." Meowth didn't protest as she recalled him to his Ball. Too tired to argue. Evelina took a deep, shuddery breath and headed off again at a jog. Her tired legs gave no protest, the adrenaline coursing through her giving her one last push. The night pokémon rustled in the undergrowth – but reassuringly, the click of a zubat's echolocation was nowhere to be heard.

Presently, she came to a fork in the road. On the right, a wooden signpost pointed towards Union Cave. Left, and Evelina could see the village of Union Wood twinkling invitingly half a mile down the road. _Union Cave will have to wait_, she thought, and took the left-hand path.

* * *

Union Pokémon Centre fronted onto the village green, right in the heart of Union Wood. The Centre was some four hundred years old, converted from the village coaching inn. Built from stone and ancient oak, it was the kind of building that was just too old and strong to be knocked down. Where once the pub sign hung above the door, now there was fixed a large red P, backlit sharply with a halogen lamp. In all other respects, however, the inn looked much the same as it had for centuries - a quaint 16th century relic repurposed for modern times.

Friendly yellow light splashed from the windows and open doors. Inside, what was once the bar area was now a wide lounge, lit by electric sconces and backed by the main desk. Instead of the familiar crisp white plastic common to most Pokémon Centres, the desk was the remains of the old bar, an oaken construction worn smooth down the years by the hands of countless people.

A few scattered Trainers were hanging out in the lounge when Evelina entered. A flatscreen TV murmured on the left-hand wall, while behind the main desk the Centre nurse was idly filling out paperwork. Well, there was nothing for it. Evelina gritted her teeth and approached the desk. Looking up, the nurse's smile remained steadfastly pasted onto her face, but Evelina spotted the tiny double take, the flicker of recognition in her eyes.

"Good evening," she said. _No 'How may I help you'_, Evelina thought.

"My pokémon are exhausted and so am I. I need a bed for the night, if you have one."

"I'll see to your pokémon now."

"And the bed?"

"I think we have one available," Joy replied, unhelpfully. The two Joys stared at each other. Evelina decided that she'd had enough. "Look I know what you're thinking. And you know I know what you're thinking. So why don't you just say it? I'm too tired to play family games."

"You'd be the girl from Cherrygrove City? Gabriella's eldest."

"My _name_ is Evelina. I am a Pokémon Trainer, and I need a bed. Am I going to sleep here tonight or not?"

"There is space," Joy snapped, "Hand me your pokémon. I'll check them out – not that _I_ should have to."

"Sure you don't want to check my Trainer's license first?"

Joy ignored the sarcasm and took the proffered Poké Balls, smile still glued to her face. Some of the other Trainers had noticed the hostility at the desk and were guilelessly eavesdropping. Evelina gave them a full hands-on-hips glare, daring anyone to pass comment. No-one did. She leant on the desk drumming her fingers for a moment. She'd seen that look before. It was the same look she'd got at the Violet City Pokémon Centre. It was the same look she'd got from any number of relatives, when all the other girls were getting ready to go to nursing college.

Well, here was another aunt who certainly wasn't going to be her best friend. She might as well make the best of it. The other Trainers still watching her out of eye corners, she smartly vaulted the desk, signed herself in, and helped herself to a locker key. Despite her scowl, Evelina was beginning to feel more optimistic. Her aunt may well at this moment be on the phone to the Cherrygrove City Pokémon Centre, but gossip was endless. Right now, what mattered was a hot dinner and a shower.

* * *

Half an hour later, Evelina sat sprawled in the shower, smiling to herself. Blessedly hot water ran in rivulets down her shoulders. Salt and sweat swirled away down the plug, and so too did the accumulated annoyances of the day. For now, in the steamy sanctuary of the shower, life was simple and uninterrupted. Later, it wouldn't be, but Evelina was sure she could put off being annoyed again until after dinner. For now, life was simple.

The shower room door opened and closed, somewhere beyond the veil of steam. Evelina ignored it. She was thinking about the adventure ahead. Azalea Town wasn't far now, not with Union Cave so close. A short jaunt through the Cave, then across Route 33, and she'd be on the doorstep of the Azalea Town Gym. Evelina giggled with excitement – another Gym, and another Gym Badge!

She could do with catching another pokémon, if she was to challenge the Azalea Gym. Not because she was liable to lose with Ledyba and Meowth. Bug-type pokémon weren't going to have a type advantage over her pair of scallywags. No, rather it was because she hadn't caught a pokémon since starting her journey. Meowth she'd caught a little over a year ago. Ledyba had been captured when she was sixteen. Each of her pokémon was special in their own way … Ledyba, aggressive and confident. Meowth, old and cunning. If she was to catch another pokémon, it would be a pokémon that was special in some way.

Not to worry, Evelina thought. I'll know it when I see it.


	5. Over Hill, Under Hill

**Chapter Four – Over Hill, Under Hill**

_**Joshua**_

Josh was sulking. Rain hammered down in silvery sheets and went gurgling away down the rocky paths. It drizzled off the ends of tree branches and dripped off pine needles. It whipped capriciously under shelters. Sat under the damp eaves of a hemlock, Josh watched the downpour sullenly. He had planned to cross over the mountain in little over half a day, and so come to Route 33 well before sunset. The weather, though, had other ideas.

Thunder rumbled overhead. It should have been a sensible plan. On the map, Union Cave looked to be longer and just as difficult as the mountain path. Being unfamiliar with mountain weather, Josh had been relying on the clear skies report from his Pokégear's weather app. So much for that – this rainstorm had seemingly blown in from nowhere.

The wind tried to drive rain under the shaggy hemlock branches. Josh zipped his old brown jacket right up to his chin, and wondered whether he should have tried to relocate to Olivine City or Goldenrod – somewhere his degree would be in higher demand. Well, that was the conundrum, right there. There was no guarantee that he'd manage to find work before his living money ran out. It was the sort of risk that would either pay off handsomely, or cost hundreds of dollars to no gain. On the whole it wasn't a risk Josh was willing to take, though he couldn't help but sometimes wonder if he'd made the right decision.

The pokémon he was sharing the shelter with wasn't helping, either. Nestled snugly in the branches of the hemlock, a hoothoot watched him unblinkingly with its round, red eyes. The rain didn't seem to be bothering it at all. Josh scowled up at it.

"Did you get up early just to watch me get soaked?" Hoothoot just hooted insolently back. Josh's brow furrowed again. He was beginning to suspect that the owl was laughing at him. _Damn it_. Four, maybe five miles to the west the path ran until it reached the top of a wide valley. A lively stream ran through it, but there were steps carved into the rock – good, safe steps. That was the Granite Pass, and walking downhill it would have been possible to be in the next village well before nightfall - if it hadn't rained.

Just as Josh was considering throwing something at the hoothoot, the rain slackened off. Thunder still rumbled further up the mountainside, but here on the lower slopes the downpour slowed to a scattered drizzle. Josh emerged stiffly from beneath the tree. There was still enough time to reach the Granite Pass before nightfall. Reaching to his belt, he unsnapped a Poké Ball from its clasp. Time to get to know his new pokémon.

"Out you come, Magnemite," he said. Magnemite didn't appear to be at all fazed by its capture. It just hovered, gazing blankly at him.

"Er. So. Magnemite," said Josh. "Looks like I'm your new trainer. No hard feelings over being caught, right?"

Magnemite stared back.

"We could be good friends, you know. Just ask Bulbasaur."

Stare.

"I thought we could walk to the pass together," he continued. "Get to know each other, sort of thing. Er."

Stare.

"In a creepy way, you're kind of cute really," he said desperately.

Magnemite listed to its left. Josh tried to work out whether that meant Magnemite liked the compliment. Its constant stare was beginning to make his eyes water. He gazed southwards down the mountainside; the slopes dominated by graceful, pencil-straight Godwood cedars. _Well, while I'm here_. Josh walked over to the nearest Godwood and picked a sprig of the aromatic needles – they went well with lemon tea. When he looked back, Magnemite was determinedly making its way up the mountainside.

"Oi, where are you going?" Josh shouted. "Get back here!"

His pokémon made no answer, except to spin on its axis a couple of times. Josh growled in frustration and gave chase. His boots kicked up against the rocky ground and he stumbled as he ran. He fumbled for Magnemite's Poké Ball as he leapt up a steep slope. _Damn it! Who would have thought a Magnemite would be so swift?_

"You stop right there, you screwball!" he yelled. "Do you hear me – ow!" Josh slipped on the wet leaf litter and fell hard. The Poké Ball went bouncing away down the slope. Magnemite watched in wide-eyed interest as its trainer scrambled to retrieve the Ball. Breathing heavily, Josh stabbed a threatening finger at his errant pokémon.

"Mag-nemiiiite," it droned in return and was off again, winding randomly through the dripping cedars.

"Return!" The recall beam skipped off a tree and dissipated. His second and third attempts to recall Magnemite similarly failed – aiming a recall beam was difficult whilst simultaneously trying to chase it through the trees. Josh bared his teeth. _Right, that tears it,_ he thought. He half-sprinted, half-leapt up the mountainside, dodging tree-trunks and ducking branches. A listing spray of sugar pine dumped a shower of rainwater down his neck. Cursing breathlessly, Josh trod heavily on a large rock and sent it tumbling away. "Geo!" it complained, swinging its fists.

He passed Magnemite, giving it a wide circling berth, running on another few yards before smartly hiding behind a tree. Magnemite lost sight of him. It swivelled about, looking in completely the wrong directions, and slowly twiddled its screws in their sockets with dull squeaking noise. Josh crept out from his hiding place – he managed to get within a few feet of Magnemite before it heard him.

"Magnemite!" it cried, just in time to see its trainer pounce.

"Gotcha!" he shouted in triumph, seizing his pokémon with a flying tackle. The pair tumbled and bounced wildly down the mountain until a pine log halted them with a jolt. Josh lay on the damp ground, clutching Magnemite firmly. His body started to register complaints – aching legs, thumping chest, banged head. A hollow boom split the air apart. Lightning flashed.

"Oh dear …"

The storm was closing back in.

* * *

The thunderstorm rumbled down the mountains, lashing the slopes with sheets of water. The raindrops hit the ground so hard that they bounced back an inch or more. Black clouds brought on an early night. Lightning flashed, turning the forest into a stark tableau of dark trunks and silver rain.

The storm had been hanging around the uplands for days, gathering in power as it went. Now it dumped its accumulated strength in one go, joyously throwing everything it had at the hillsides. Pokémon huddled under logs and boulders to wait it out. At the eastern end of Union Cave, the tallest pine in the forest was split in half by a lightning strike. Granite Pass was a torrent of white water.

In the midst of it all, a trainer zigzagged through the forest, lost.

* * *

Which way was west?

Josh squinted through the gloom, Magnemite hovering at his shoulder. Raindrops clustered on the lenses of his glasses blurred his vision. He swung his lantern left and right, looking for a landmark, any landmark, that might give him a clue as to where he was. The illumination from the brief flashes of lightning was no help at all – all he saw was a barcode forest, ranks of dark pines stretching in every direction.

Not for the first time, Josh cursed the mountain path. He cursed Magnemite too, for its disobedience. Somehow during the chase he must have lost his bearings. In the dark of the storm he had no idea which way he had drifted, east or west, north or south. By the light of his lantern he saw a cut-out view of the forest, a circular peep-hole filled with rain.

Lightning speared a tree, its heartwood bursting into flame regardless of the downpour. It wasn't much more than a furlong away – too close for comfort. Josh's imagination supplied a vivid image of boiling sap and wooden shrapnel. He fumbled in his jacket pocket for Magnemite's Poké Ball.

"This is too dangerous. Get in, _now_," he commanded, recalling it.

Which way was west?

He headed downhill, on the basis that it would eventually take him down to Route 32, or 33. Downhill was the only recognisable direction at this point, anyway. Josh shivered. The rain had soon soaked him through to the skin, and now his old jumper sat heavily on his shoulders. He could feel his socks squelching in his boots, though the pounding rain drowned out all sound.

For the umpteenth time that day he slipped on a patch of scree. In the dark he couldn't see where to place his weight and so went tumbling down the slope yet again. Fresh scratches raised on his hands, with aching head he stumbled up to his feet. The lantern hadn't broken in the fall – at least that was something.

An unpleasant tight sensation was growing in his chest. _This is ridiculous_, Josh thought, _I'm never lost._ But there were no landmarks! Nothing to recognise, nothing to steer by! Josh heaved down a few steadying breaths. _Alright, calm down,_ he told himself. _Keep heading downhill_. He methodically panned his lantern around again, and his heart leapt. There, further downhill, a gap in the forest! He was closer to the foothills than he'd thought.

Heading towards the gap with renewed purpose, Josh tried to wipe the rain from his glasses. It made no difference – the drops just smeared and were replaced in seconds anyway. The thunder seemed to grind and roar ever louder. Josh paused, confused. _Was_ that thunder? He strained to hear past the lashing rain. It sounded deep, throaty, not like the hollow boom of thunder.

A particularly bright lightning strike lit up the forest. For a few seconds Josh could see clearly. About twenty feet away, a fully-grown onix was watching him and roaring. Josh spat out a curse and fled. An onix! A bloody territorial onix! He risked a glance behind – it was following, still roaring. What was an onix doing out in a thunderstorm?

He changed direction, half-running, half-leaping downhill. Picking up speed, he laughed breathlessly. _Try and catch me now, boulder-boy!_ The laughter died in his throat as the onix went crashing by like a runaway train, smashing trees like matchsticks as it went. It turned, head held low to the ground. It opened its mouth wide, and _screeched_.

The noise was awful. Josh clapped his hands to his ears, and screamed.

Josh wasn't sure how long the Screech went on for. His eardrums throbbed. Onix lay motionless amid the ruined trees, watching him. Josh wondered why it hadn't attacked. What was it trying to do? He looked past the onix to the tree-gap, looking for a nest or lair of some kind. The rain eased off a little, and scarce feet away, a flash of lightning revealed –

… yawning depths, sheer cliffs, a black chasm …

Josh hurriedly threw an arm around a broken tree trunk.

"Unk," he managed. He clutched the broken trunk like a child clinging to his mother, shut his eyes and waited patiently for the world to stop spinning. Eventually, the ringing in his ears dimmed a little, and he dared to let go.

"You were trying to warn me about the cliff, weren't you?" he said. The onix seemed to relax. Josh supposed that meant it had understood. It was an imposing pokémon, especially in the gloom of the storm – a good thirty feet long, and darker coloured than most of its species. Its body was rounded rather than rugged, smoothened from years of tunnelling. The look it gave Josh was somehow _old_, like a stern but kindly grandfather.

Crunching over pulverised wood, Onix slithered a little way along the cliff. It partly turned back, staring expectantly. Josh followed cautiously, taking care to keep the onix between himself and the cliff face beyond. The old pokémon led him down a ledge that wound down the sheer side of the mountain. It kept glancing back to make sure that Josh was still there, seemingly unafraid of the yawning depths.

Eventually, Onix stopped at an apparently random spot. It coiled itself up slightly, its massive bulk only just squeezing onto the path. Without warning, it roared and smashed its way into the cliff face. The ground rumbled and shook, the night filled with the elemental sound of rock grinding on rock as it squirmed through the mountainside.

Josh cautiously shone his lantern down the tunnel. Tremors vibrated up from far underground. He hesitated, nervy at the prospect of following down an onix-burrow. He mentally shook himself. This old onix had stopped him from walking over the cliff edge, hadn't it? There was something in the look on its face – that grandfatherly expression – that suggested it knew very well what it was doing. Josh slid himself into the tunnel, took a deep breath, and was gone.

* * *

Deep underground, Josh struggled through the living rock. Slithering down an onix-burrow turned out to be a difficult, grubby, claustrophobic, business. He wasn't really feeling afraid any more, so much as persistent, deep-rooted apprehension. A change in the dispersal of the light seemed to reveal an end to the tunnel. Relieved, tired and sore, he slid down the last few yards and fell into a spacious, airy cavern.

Josh painfully regained his feet and panned his lantern around the cavern. The ceiling soared up four, maybe five fathoms – why did it occur to him to estimate it in terms of depth? - the cold electric light touching off galleries of stalactites. A wide pool covered almost half of the cavern floor, the surface perfectly still, like a molten mirror, speckled with peach-coloured stromatolites. The walls were frosted with some variety of chalk-white moss.

"Oh my …" Josh breathed. He'd heard stories of underground lakes hidden in obscure corners of Union Cave. How many people had seen this chamber, he wondered, stepping around the edge of the pool with reverent care, like a man in a cathedral – to disturb the water would be unthinkable, a sacrilege.

That wasn't really moss, was it? A closer look showed them to be an intricate, delicate forest of crystals, like tiny heads of club moss and bracken sprays, twinkling shyly in the lantern-light.

Exhaustion was trying to catch up with him. Josh blinked hard in an effort to stay awake. There was another tunnel on the far side of the cavern, leading off into the dark. Josh shone his lantern down it, trying to think through the fog of exhaustion. After a while, he released Magnemite.

"Alright, listen you," he said wearily. "Watch for other pokémon and listen for my orders. Understand?"

Magnemite said nothing. It was staring off into the blackness.

"Magnemite. Understand?"

"Magnemite!" it droned urgently, rapidly hovering down the tunnel.

"Oi! I'm the pathfinder. Don't make me recall you!" Stumbling with exhaustion, he chased his pokémon into the depths of Union Cave.


	6. Matters of Grace

**Chapter Five – Matters of Grace**

_**Joshua**_

A grey dawn broke over Route 33. It was a pale, shivery sort of morning, cloaked in the subdued calm that comes after a storm. The sun rose lethargically through shredded clouds that hung high and wispy above the world.

Tucked under a bush, Josh lay in that content, fluffy place between sleeping and waking – not quite asleep, but not quite awake either. The morning air had a fresh, washed out smell, the smell you only get after rain. Sensations filtered in one by one – the rustling of leaves, hoppip piping, the feel of the sleeping bag.

A fuzzy thought rose in Josh's brain. _But I don't own a sleeping bag …_

Reluctantly, Josh made himself wake up properly. After a brief squint around for his glasses, he sat up and took a first look at the morning. He was lying in a grassy hollow, sheltered from the wind by a thick tangle of bushes. His clothes had been left to dry in the breeze, thrown over an A-frame fashioned from hazel sticks. Josh stared blankly at them. Vague memories of last night floated through his mind. Exhaustion. Finding a way through Union Cave. Coming to Route 33.

A metallic glint caught his eye, and Josh looked up at Magnemite hovering, and watching. For some reason best known to itself, it was slowly orbiting the campsite. The expression on its strange, artificial face was as inscrutable as ever.

"So you've decided to hang around then?" Josh asked sharply. Magnemite gave no answer. It was not, on the whole, a complicated creature but it had stayed by its trainer's side all through the night. Dead on his feet, his trainer had fallen straight into a deep sleep. In the grey half-light before sunrise a group of zubat showed rather a lot of interest in the sleeping trainer. Magnemite decided it didn't like that. It flicked electricity at them until they gave up and flew in Magnemite's electronic mind sensed that its trainer was annoyed with it. Magnemite decided to wait for an order, so it could obey and then its trainer wouldn't be annoyed any more.

Despite himself, Josh softened a little. Magnemite had been out of its Poké Ball all night and it hadn't wandered off. Maybe it was warming to him after all. That little magnet pokémon was a mystery.

The sleeping bag was another. It was a business-like affair; warm on the inside, tough and waterproof on the outside. The bag was dull green in colour, unadorned except for a single logo. It looked like a stylised Poké Ball superimposed on a black background, surrounded by a laurel wreath. _A Pokémon ranger's bag?_ Josh thought. The events of last night were still a little hazy. He could only assume that he had met a Ranger last night, and borrowed this sleeping bag.

As he dressed and got ready to make a move, he sorted through the memories of the last twenty-four hours. They had a curiously unreal quality, as if being lost and wet and frightened had happened to someone else. In the calm of the morning, with the smell-after-rain rising off the turf, it was hard to really recall the heart-thumping fear of having nearly run off a cliff after being apparently chased by bull onix. And the memory of the cave, the magical dancing lights shining from mirror-perfect pools – that too felt like it had been something merely dreamt, or hallucinated.

Josh smirked wryly to himself. Damp clothes feel real - laying eyes on a natural wonder does not. That seemed like it should be the other way round. He swung his bag over his shoulder, hefted the now repacked sleeping bag, and went to look for the road.

* * *

The road to Azalea Town is a short one, running past wide fields until it bends north to meet the eaves of the Charwood. A trainer was hurrying west along the track, passing over the last few miles of the Route. His Magnemite trailed after him - stopping occasionally to stare at things - and by mid-morning he'd left the fields far behind.

Josh was feeling almost cheerful. Over the last few miles his clothes had dried out properly and he was confident that Azalea Town was no more than an hour away. On the right sparse evergreen woods lined the path; on the left rose a low outcrop of red clay. The smells of pine resin and wet clay mingled pleasantly in the cool air. He'd just stopped to read a signpost when a boisterous voice called out: "Yo trainer! How many Badges do you have?"

This was shouted down by a young man up on the outcrop. He was about Josh's own age, though taller and broader.

"None," he called back. "Why do you ask?"

"None at _all? _Aww, you're kidding me?"

"None as yet," Josh shrugged.

"Well, whatever," the guy slid down the steep clay with perfect balance. For some reason he'd decided to walk about as though he'd just come from the beach – light blue hoodie with a funky wave design, three-quarter length shorts, even sandals, for heaven's sake. His blond hair had a fashionably salt-damaged appearance. "You'll do anyway."

"I'll do for what?" said Josh.

"A battle, trainer, a battle. You won't win, but you'll do for practice."

"Practice. And what, exactly, guarantees you victory?" Josh asked coldly.

"Trainer, you're lookin' at an alumnus of the Dewford Island Gym!" he said with a smirk. "Name's Tyler Bradshaw, remember it, 'cause it's a name for a champion!"

Dewford Island. Josh had been there once, for a holiday. They had laughed at him, because he was skinny and nerdy, and he couldn't swim, much less surf, because he had a bulbasaur and not an aron. And then one of the pretty surfer girls had asked him out as he sat drinking bad coffee, with her friends laughing at him and waiting to see if he'd fall for it. Josh spotted the trap easily, but it didn't matter. He was still entertainment.

"I accept your challenge. One-on-one, no time limit," he said, unsnapping Bulbasaur's Poké Ball.

"Hah! One-on-one it is, trainer," Tyler said. "Go Machop!"

"Battle's on Bulbasaur!"

Tyler's Machop slowly pounded a fist into its palm in an attempt to intimidate Bulbasaur. Its oversized muscles rippled smoothly under grey skin. "Careful," Josh ordered. Machop looked hale and healthy – Josh wasn't sure what it could do. Bulbasaur paced at a safe distance, growling.

"Machop! Start it off," called Tyler, suddenly serious. "Karate Chop!"

Machop closed the distance at a run, arrow-quick. Bulbasaur deftly ducked under the first swing, and caught a backhand blow under the chin from the other hand. He threw himself into a roll and thumped back with a Tackle. Bulbasaur leapt again but Machop neatly dodged with a backward-roll.

"Keep your distance," Josh said. "Leech Seed!"

Bulbasaur fired the Leech Seed high on a classic looping trajectory. Machop side-stepped, darted in, and kicked Bulbasaur's legs from beneath him. Bulbasaur landed heavily and fired again. This time the seed was batted way with a casual flick of the hand.

"Bullet Punch!" Tyler ordered. Machop blurred and smacked a fist into Bulbasaur's side. A smirk was starting to form on Tyler's face as he watched his pokémon dart in and out. Josh smirked inwardly. _Got you_.

"Leech Seed, fire it flat!" he called. Bulbasaur crouched and let fly as Machop stepped in for a Karate Chop. The seed whistled in and struck Machop on the arm, putting out a mass of tendrils and binding the arm tight.

Machop flailed its arm and tugged at the tendrils, but the seed held fast. The smirk had gone from Tyler's face – Josh could see Tyler knew as well as he did that the Leech Seed would sit there, quietly sapping away Machop's energy until Bulbasaur chose to reclaim it. And now Machop had dropped its guard …

"Vine Whip!" The vine made a loud _crack_ as the blow connected. Bulbasaur didn't give his opponent time to recover, smacking his other vine into the back of Machop's legs and scything it down like a stalk. Machop rolled to dodge one lashing vine only to take a stinging blow from the other.

"Machop! Use your Karate Chop and block the blows!" Tyler called.

"Keep up Vine Whip! Beat it down!"

Josh watched the battle clinically. Tyler's pokémon fended off Bulbasaur's Vine Whips with its forearm, blocking some blows, deflecting others. It can't keep up this attrition, Josh thought. Bulbasaur can reclaim the Leech Seed at any time to heal himself. This battle is mine.

"Grab the vines and pull, Machop!"

Machop's hands shot out and seized Bulbasaur's vines, faster than Josh had thought possible. _So fast_. Bulbasaur tried to tug free as Machop tightened its grip. A triumphant look flared in its red eyes. It yanked _hard_, dragging Bulbasaur to the ground. Bulbasaur howled in pain.

The Leech Seed unwrapped itself from around Machop's arm and flew back to its maker, bringing the stolen energy with it. Bulbasaur hauled himself to his feet and growled his defiance. Fierce pride welled in Josh's chest. _Just look at that tenacity!_ Tyler was saying something, but Josh wasn't paying attention. The sight of Machop running in - fist drawn back for a Bullet Punch - snapped him back to the battle.

"Tackle!" he commanded, but Machop connected first. Bulbasaur Tackled in turn, but Machop simply rolled to its feet and thudded a Low Kick into Bulbasaur's side. Machop drew back its hand and swung. Bulbasaur, too tired to dodge, caught the Karate Chop behind the ear. "Bul!" he grunted almost resignedly, and lost his footing for a last time.

Josh held out Bulbasaur's Poké Ball and recalled his unconscious pokémon. _You tried so hard. _Tyler was laughing. Josh's heart sank. He'd really wanted to beat Tyler, to wipe that smug look off his face. They were so close to defeating him.

Tyler was still laughing at him. "Aww, man! Did I not tell you that I would win?"

"Calm down," Josh told him. "You just won."

"No, no, no, trainer. _You_ lost, and I crushed you!"

"You could at least win with grace. The is such a thing as sportsmanship, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, it's funny how losers only 'win with grace'!" Tyler said scornfully.

Josh began to frame a biting comeback, but thought better of it. It wouldn't matter how clever it was - Tyler would just laugh all the more. You don't have to lose with bad grace just because he wins without it, he told himself. He glanced round at Magnemite still hovering at his shoulder. It was staring steadily at Tyler. The patient intensity of its gaze struck Josh as somehow hostile. It whined its low, discordant stereo-feedback whine.

"Come on, Magnemite," Josh told it. "Let's go into town." He turned his back to his grinning opponent. Magnemite followed reluctantly, hovering backwards so as to maintain its stare.

"Hey trainer!" Tyler called after him. "How does being a loser taste? Does it taste bitter?" Josh shut his ears and ignored the cat-calls. He walked quickly, taking long strides down the red clay path till he was well out of earshot. Tyler's derisive laughter was still ringing in his ears. Josh wondered why that guy bothered him so. Guys like Tyler were common in this world, as far as he could see. They were the people who, as teenagers, had risen to the top of their little social ladder, and had stayed there. They were the people who were, in short, the cool kids.

Such juvenile class distinctions didn't matter any more. Josh was twenty-one. He hadn't considered himself a boy for a long while now, and it had been longer still since the casual scorn of his peers had got under his skin, as it had that one summer on Dewford Island. Maybe it was that, despite the fact that Josh was no longer a nerdy boy but a young man, Tyler was still acting like a boy of sixteen.

_If I ever meet him again, I will defeat him. And I will do it with grace._

Josh found himself standing atop a low rise in the land. On the right, the Charwood marched on towards the north. The path struck out west, away from the eaves of the wood down the hillside. There, it became a country lane, bordered left and right with farmer's fields. Beyond, perhaps a little over half a mile down the lane, Josh could see the outskirts of Azalea Town. Smoke was rising from chimneys, smudging the pale morning sky.

_Which means the Azalea Town Gym isn't far away … or my first Gym battle._


	7. Azalea Town

**Chapter Six – Azalea Town**

_**Evelina**_

The claw raked Ledyba hard across the face. She buzzed shrilly and corkscrewed away. A second Scratch attack ploughed a deep furrow into the dirt as she climbed out of her assailant's reach. The battlefield was a rough rectangle in the dirt, little more than a clearing in the thickly clustered trees. The glass ceiling of the Gym broke the morning sun into beams that lanced down through the budding treetops.

Ledyba hovered in a sunbeam, her gauzy wings flickering ethereally against the light. Her flight was slightly erratic – the telltale sign of the lingering effects of poison. Evelina glanced across to her opponent, a young man in cargo shorts, wielding his bug net like a poleaxe. He wore the worryingly earnest expression of a true bug maniac. He seemed to vibrate slightly, as if the sight of two Bug-types battling on the same field was altogether too much excitement.

"Comet Punch!" Evelina ordered. _Finish it quickly!_

"Dig, Paras!"

Paras promptly disappeared in a cloud of dirt. Evelina growled in frustration as Ledyba hurriedly pulled out of her dive. Still stalling for time! She wondered how long Ledyba could last under the sinister effects of Poisonpowder. Paras resurfaced at the edge of the field, clicking its mandibles and chanting "Parasparasparas!" excitedly.

"Tick, tick, tock!" its trainer called. "You can fly, but I can dig! What will you do now, Miss Joy?"

_Seize the initiative! _Evelina could hear her heartbeat drumming dully in her ears. This was where a real battle was fought – on the edge, where neither trainer knew what the other was planning, where strategies fell away and it was just you and your pokémon. She smiled a glinting smile. _Seize the initiative!_

"Let's finish this, Ledyba. Tackle, come in fast and low!" Her pokémon curled into a swift dive and sped across the battlefield.

Paras' trainer stabbed at the air with his bug net. "Now, my pretty Paras! Rock Smash!"

Paras thrust out its claw like a spear, enthusiastically mimicking its trainer's stance. As Ledyba bore down, the little mushroom pokémon sprang up to meet it.

"Protect!" Evelina yelled joyously. A shimmering green bubble flashed into existence around Ledyba, flickering on-off just for a second. Paras bounced off the Protect as if it had been flicked away, flailing its little limbs desperately. Ledyba intercepted elegantly and pummelled it with a flurry of Comet Punches. The attack made a neat little _thrrrdp _as it connected.

Paras landed heavily on the dirt, its eyes even glassier than usual. It had fainted dead away. "Paras is unable to battle," called the referee. "The victory goes to the challenger, Evelina!"

Evelina let out a squeak and assayed a little jump on the spot. "Yes! We did it, Ledyba! Come here for an Antidote!" As Evelina carefully sprayed Ledyba's carapace with Antidote, the referee headed across the battlefield. He looked – and dressed – much younger than he was, with his outdoorsy shirt-and-shorts, boyish mop of dyed purple hair and yellow neckerchief. Leaning casually on his own bug net, he gave Evelina an appraising look.

"I've got to admit, Miss Joy, I had my doubts about you. But you fought a good battle – you've earned the right to battle me for the Hive Badge. I'll take your challenge as soon as your Ledyba's fully recovered."

"Thanks, Bugsy, but if I may I'd like to delay our battle," Evelina answered, wiping off excess Antidote. "I'd like to catch a third pokémon. Good girl, Ledyba. Return for now, huh?"

"If that's what you want. I'll be waiting. Ah, a new challenger? Welcome to the Azalea Town Gym," Bugsy said, looking over Evelina's shoulder. The newcomer was leaning casually against a tree with his arms folded. His clothes were travel worn, and there was a leafy twig sticking out of his hair, but Evelina still recognised him.

"Omigosh, you're that new trainer, the, the guy with the bulbasaur from Route 32! How've you been?"

"A friend from the road huh?" Bugsy said, "I know how that goes. If this is your first Gym, let me explain my rules to you. In order to challenge me, you must first battle one of my Gym trainers …"

Evelina headed for the exit, leaving the Leader to his explanation. She wondered how long the bulbasaur trainer had been watching. Maybe the whole time – the heat of battle tended to tunnel her vision.

"… your battle performance against my Gym trainer will allow me to decide how to test you in a Gym Battle -"

"Er, I appreciate your welcome, but I wonder if I might catch up with a friend, sort of thing. Excuse me … er, Evelina?"

_He remembered my name? _"Yes?" she said aloud. The young man had broken into a jog to catch up.

"That was a clever tactic you used back there. Luring Paras in and then using Protect."

"Oh, thank you! But it wasn't a tactic. At least I didn't plan it. But thank you."

"It was a clever tactic," he repeated. His solemn tone made Evelina smile.

"I'm sorry, but I've rather forgotten your name," she said hesitantly.

"Cook. Joshua Cook. Well, just Josh."

"Evelina Joy. But you already knew that," she said with a self-deprecating shrug. "Call me Eve."

The two trainers stood in silence for a moment. Evelina kicked her heels idly in the dirt. A hush had fallen on the woodland Gym.

"Have you got a spare moment?" she said, "There are some nice cafés in town, if you're interested?"

"Sounds good to me," Josh answered. "It's a nice morning for coffee."

* * *

All along Old Village high street, the azalea was in bloom. The high street is an airy boulevard, where ivy climbs the picturesque timber-and-stone buildings so iconic of Azalea Town. Wrought-iron lampposts line the cobbled streets, bearing bright little banners that flutter and snap in the wind. Everywhere you look, the azalea blossoms in the sun – thousands of little star-shaped blooms shining magenta, orange and white.

Evelina and Josh sat in the shade of an awning on the café patio. They'd tucked their bags beneath their seats, and the warmth of the late morning sun had forced Josh remove his old grey jumper. Eve had unzipped her coat and was enjoying the westerly breeze that blew from across the river. She sat with her chin resting on her hand, gazing dreamily at the street. Azalea Town in the springtime was so _pretty_. Josh was leaning back in his seat, a curious little half-smile on his face. He still hadn't noticed the twig in his hair.

"It's a charming sight, don't you think? Old Village. Quite a nineteenth-century charm," she said.

"Yes … it's nice to see a pedestrian town centre. High streets should be for walking. You were right about the café," he added. "It's in a lovely spot."

"A welcome change after Union Cave, huh?"

"I didn't come through Union Cave. Not all of it, anyway. I took the mountain path."

"You did not! There was a storm over Union Cave last night!" Eve said accusingly.

"Don't I know it. I had to go down into the Cave and walk on to Route 33. I was so exhausted, I'm still not quite sure how I managed it."

Eve gave him a surprised look. In last night's downpour it would have taken an excellent woodsman to find a way over the hills. "So how did you find your way back into the Cave?" she said.

"I had to slide down an onix burrow. Which rather explains the state of my clothes," he said apologetically.

Eve's hand flew to her mouth, stifling a small gasp. She had to admit, she was a little impressed. Not many people would dare go poking around an onix burrow, storm or no storm. "You went down an onix burrow to get out of the rain," she said with a giggle.

Josh waved his hand vaguely in an embarrassed 'it is what it is' sort of gesture. There was a fine cut on his palm that he apparently hadn't bothered to put a plaster on. At that moment, a notepad-wielding waiter materialised, asking for their orders.

"What? Oh, er, medium black coffee please," said Josh.

"You mean an Unovera, sir?"

"What?"

"An Unovera, sir."

"Is that a black coffee with no trimmings?" Josh demanded.

"Um. Yes sir?" the waiter returned hopefully.

"All right, a medium Unovera, then."

"We don't have medium, sir," the waiter said kindly. "We have piccolo, medio, grande, and troppo grande."

Josh gave the waiter a cold stare. Beside him, Eve had her hand pressed firmly over her mouth, jaw clenched to keep in the giggles. There were little tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Grande," he sighed. "A grande Unovera. Please."

"Cappuccino grande," Eve managed. She coughed a few times to clear the last of the giggles. Josh looked at her sidelong, but there was that curious half-smile on his face nevertheless. _We're actually having a nice time_, she thought.

"You know Eve, I noticed something about you, back at the Gym. First thing you did after you won was to reach for an Antidote," he hesitated, as if unsure of what to say next. "Why did you decide to be a trainer? I mean, you obviously care for pokémon. But you could do that as a nurse. Er."

Eve drew breath for a defensive tirade … and then she saw the worried half-smile and stopped herself. _He's just asking_, she told herself. _Do you really want to snap at him?_ She gave him a brittle smile, feeling a little foolish for being defensive.

"What you have to understand about us …" she began. "Look, it's like this. For the girls in our family, pokémon medicine is what we do. When I was little, after school I'd be helping out in the clinic before I did anything else. I'd be working half of my weekend in the Pokémon Centre. All the other girls enrolled straight into nursing college the moment they left school. And as soon as they graduate, they'll become pokémon nurses, pokémon doctors, Pokémon League breeders," she heaved a heavy sigh. "A Joy lives her entire life for someone else. It's not that I don't think it's a worthwhile life, but … I'm twenty-three. I want to live for myself for a while! I want to see some of the world. I want to achieve something that's just for me. I don't need to be the Champion. I just … want to be my own woman."

Josh was still patiently listening. "You probably think this is all kind of stupid -" Eve started.

"No, no, I get it. You want to make your own choices," said Josh.

The waiter glided up, their coffees in hand. He set Josh's Unovera in front of him with exaggerated care. Eve couldn't help but glance across at it – yep, black coffee with no trimmings. The waiter hadn't dared to bring any biscotti. She took a long sip of her cappuccino. It wasn't very good.

"So aside from climbing down onix burrows, what have you done since I met you?" she asked.

"Well, I caught a magnemite. Though I didn't intend to at the time," he replied. "It was up on Route 32, in the western highlands. Er. Whatever this magnemite was doing up there in the first place, I'm not sure …" It was beginning to dawn on Eve that he was conscientiously trying _not _to look at her face. She casually raised a questing hand -

\- and discovered a splendid foam moustache clinging to her lip. There was a moment of silence as she hastily brushed it away with the back of her hand. Josh's face twitched into a smirk. "Serves you right for drinking cappuccino," he quipped dryly.

Eve started to giggle. It really wasn't funny, but right now she was prepared to laugh at anything. Josh started to giggle at her giggles, and soon they were both laughing freely, tension and nerves washed away by a foam moustache.

"So what's this magnemite like? Is it a good battler?" said Eve.

"I have no idea. I'm not even sure what moves it knows."

"I know how to find out," said Eve, pulling out her Pokédex. It was a slim model, brushed-silver in colour. She pushed a large blue button near the bottom and flipped it open.

"Is that a Pokédex?" Josh asked, watching as Eve drew out the stylus.

"Yep. The HANDY912i, as it happens. Hand me Magnemite's Poké Ball? Thanks." She fumbled for a moment and slid out a wafer-thin screen from the right hand side of the Pokédex. It flashed into life, glowing orange-red with a number of arc-like shapes drifting gently around the edges. As Eve held it over the Poké Ball, the shapes converged and spun purposefully.

"The Poké Scanner retrieves data from the Poké Ball," Eve explained, shuffling her chair round so Josh could see. "You can see Magnemite's ID number, gender, its Ability, and look – its moves."

"Tackle, Supersonic, Thundershock and Sonic Boom," Josh read out. "Oh, and the Magnet Pull Ability."

"Not a bad set of moves for the little guy. Here, let's take a look at your bulbasaur!"

As they sat and talked in the sunshine, Eve decided that she rather liked Josh. He was full of half-smiles and dry quips – and he listened, really listened. It was as if he was carefully taking notes as she spoke. She told him about her meowth and his sly habits. Halfway through, he finally noticed the twig stuck in his hair. Eve just kept chattering on, pretending not to notice him surreptitiously pull it out.

"So next I'm going to catch a new pokémon, I think. How about you?"

"Well … I was going to challenge the Gym but I think I'll work on my strategy first. Magnemite's never been in a battle. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure it really listens to me."

"Why not go challenge the Gym anyway? If you want to know whether Magnemite listens to you, there's no better way than just battling!" said Eve. "Look, what's the worst that can happen? You lose. You can always go back and try again, and either way you'll have learned something about Magnemite."

Josh drummed his fingers on the table. Eve could almost see the cogs turning in his head as he thought it over.

"Hmm. I can't fault that logic," he said eventually. He finished what was left of his Unovera. "Alright! I suppose I'm off to challenge the Gym then."

"Yay!" Eve said, a little louder than she'd intended. "I do have one question then."

"What's that?"

"Can I join you?"

* * *

To a pokémon trainer, a Badge is not just a pin. The capital letter is important. It is proof of a trainer's skill, emblematic of the long walk to the Pokémon League. In a way, earning a Badge is a highly _tangible_ achievement. Earn eight Gym Badges, and you earn the right to compete in the League. That was the way it always was. A Badge doesn't gain or lose value in the way a diploma might. An employer may argue over the value of a university education, but a Badge is always a Badge.

There was an orchestral movement that summed this all up. Which symphony it was from, Eve could never remember, but she knew it by its popular name as the Pokémon League Anthem. Endlessly adapted and remixed, it played in Pokémon Gyms and in the Halls of Fame. Opening ceremonies of the regional tournaments were accompanied by the full magnificence of the Anthem. For Eve, it was musical shorthand for the pride and glory of success fairly earned. It was music to be _inspired_ by.

"Hmm. Hm-hm-HM-hm-hmm …" she'd been absent-mindedly humming the Anthem as she and Josh made their way back to the Gym. Josh was somewhat quieter – deep in thought, now and again he had murmured cryptically to himself. Probably strategising, Eve thought.

No music played to greet challengers at the Azalea Town Gym. Inside the dome of the Gym, a busy silence reigned. Bugs rustled suspiciously in the undergrowth and peered down from treetop perches. On the battlefield Bugsy had gathered together his Gym trainers, many of them leaning on bug nets in mimicry of their leader. Bugsy's face cracked into a confident smile when he spotted Josh.

"So challenger, you've come back! Nice to see you too, Miss Joy. Can I assume that you want to battle one of my Gym trainers?" he said.

"You can," Josh said. "I'm here to challenge the Gym."

"Step up to the field, then. Benny, you'll represent the Gym this time. What's your name, challenger?"

"Cook, Joshua Cook. Of Mulberry Town."

Benny took up position on the other side of the field. He was much younger than Evelina's opponent had been, still very much a boy in his straw hat. The other Gym trainers formed a ragged line behind him with a rattle of nets and bait boxes. Benny was casually tossing a Nest Ball up in the air and catching it.

"Careful, Josh," Eve said. "He may be young but he's still a Gym trainer."

Bugsy took the judge's place at the edge of the field. Eve couldn't see Josh's expression as he selected a Poké Ball from his belt.

_Crack!_

The click of the clasp unsnapping rang in the expectant silence. Josh was rolling the reduced Poké Ball around his fingers.

"This battle between the challenger, Joshua Cook of Mulberry Town and Benny of the Azalea Town Gym is about to commence! Each trainer will use one pokémon! A Gym Battle is at stake!" Bugsy called.

_Booip!_

Josh expanded his Poké Ball. Eve thought she saw him fumble at the button for a moment. Was that a moment of nervousness?

"Begin!"


	8. Better Judgements

**Chapter Seven – Better Judgements**

_**Joshua**_

"Go, Venonat!"

"Magnemite, go!"

The hollow bangs of their Poké Balls opening echoed sharply in the still air. Josh's mind whirred as he analysed the situation. _Venonat. Bug/Poison-type. Excellent type advantage -_

"Show them your Sleep Powder, Venonat!"

Venonat shook itself violently, throwing out a billowing wave of glittering blue dust. Unconcerned, Magnemite hovered motionless as the cloud spread rapidly over the battlefield.

"Sonic Boom!" Josh ordered. The shock wave sliced across the field with a deep crack, whirring through the Sleep Powder and washing over Venonat. As it cried out in pain the glittering cloud boiled and whirled angrily, sweeping back onto its maker. Caught between the Sonic Boom and its own Sleep Powder, Venonat stumbled about in confusion.

"Venonat!" Benny cried. "Come on buddy, stay awake!"

"Thundershock!"

Magnemite almost casually threw an arching bolt of electricity at the drowsy Venonat, shocking it badly before it could work out what was happening. The smell of ozone cut through the strange sweet smell of burned Sleep Powder. Benny was beginning to look worried. He was starting this battle on the back foot, and Josh could see that he knew it.

Josh watched Benny's Venonat pull itself together and chirp gamely in its echoey voice in spite of its injuries. His own pokémon drifted passively, little yellow sparks snapping lazily off the edges of its magnets. _Looks like Magnemite knows it has the advantage, too._

Benny's face screwed up into a frown of concentration. "Alright challenger, you got me good there!" he said, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet. "But you won't win that easy - Venonat, Psybeam!"

Venonat bounded high into the air from a standing start. Bright kaleidoscopic rays burst from its eyes, zigzagging crazily through the air in a whirl of weird colour. Magnemite watched it from the corner of its eye.

"Dodge it!" Josh yelled. Magnemite ignored him. The Psybeam struck home, haloing Magnemite in rippling colours. Venonat landed gracefully and immediately set off at a run. Magnemite tried to turn to watch Venonat as it darted in and out of its blind spots.

"Psybeam, Psybeam! Again and again!"

Venonat launched Psybeam after Psybeam, running in tight little rings around Magnemite as it did so. Every time the little magnet pokémon turned to face its aggressor another Psybeam would strike home from a different angle. Josh shouted commands to dodge over the fizzing psychic power – psychosomatic burn marks were starting to appear on Magnemite's steel body.

_Why won't you evade? _Josh's hands involuntarily curled into fists. His pokémon was taking serious damage from the relentless barrage despite its natural resistance to psychic attacks. _You're getting hurt because you're not listening to me!_

"Will you bloody concentrate?" he roared. "Stop watching and start dodging! Now!"

Venonat spun and launched yet another Psybeam. The zigzagging ray fizzed towards Magnemite -

\- and missed as Magnemite ducked beneath the attack. It made a complicated spin on its axes to avoid a follow-up attack that scorched the limbs of an unlucky tree.

"Alright Magnemite! Supersonic."

Though he was standing well behind the cone of effect Josh could still hear the electronic whine of Magnemite's Supersonic. Caught in the full blast, Venonat should have been beginning to feel dizzy, but it just stood there apparently unaffected. Benny was even smiling, doing nothing to counter the attack. He calmly adjusted his hat and waited for Magnemite to give up.

"My buddy Venonat won't be hurt by a Supersonic. This is a Bug-type Gym, you know. Supersonic happens all the time here," he said with a grin. "Now let's wrap things up – Sleep Powder, again!"

"You don't learn quickly, do you? Sonic Boom."

Once again, the cloud of Sleep Powder burst apart from the force of the Sonic Boom passing through it.

"Disable!" Benny called.

"What?" Josh snapped. For the briefest moment both Venonat and Magnemite were haloed with a bluish glow. Josh was beginning to have a creeping suspicion that he'd just been trapped somehow.

"Disable binds the last move used by the target, preventing its further use during the battle, Joshua," Bugsy said from the sideline. His expression was hard to read.

Josh growled under his breath. He'd been skilfully trapped into giving up his counter-strategy. _So Sonic Boom is unusable. Fine._ _I still have this move …_

"Finish this. Thundershock," he snapped.

Venonat tried to evade just a little too late. Magnemite zapped it thoroughly where it stood. When it was over, sparks were crawling across Venonat's fur, and it was twitching violently.

"Venonat! Can you still go on, buddy?" Benny cried.

"Recall your pokémon, Benny," said Bugsy. "This battle is over. Victory goes to the challenger."

From somewhere behind him Josh heard Eve clap her hands in delight. She rushed forward to clap him on the shoulder. "Heyyy!" she said, smiling at him sunnily. "First battle with Magnemite and you win, not bad! Oh ..."

Her smile faded. She'd seen the look on the Gym Leader's face.

"You won that battle, Joshua, but you didn't earn it," he said bluntly. "You would have lost were it not for type-advantage. I will accept your challenge because you won," Bugsy paused for a moment. "However, I can't be beaten on type-advantage alone. I suggest you go and bond with your pokémon, and don't come back until you and your magnemite understand each other better."

Josh's jaw clenched. Didn't earn his victory? After figuring out a powder counter-attack in the time it took to walk to the Gym? Well if Bugsy thought that he, Joshua Cook, was going to stand and be scolded like that by a man wearing a _boy scout's_ uniform, then -

\- Magnemite drifted a little closer. It was gazing vacantly at nothing from under its eyelid. Its steel body looked dull, blemished with brown burns from Psybeam impacts. Despite the fact that it had almost nothing to express itself with, Magnemite looked tired.

_Without type-advantage, I would have lost_. The treacherous little thought put the truth to the matter. Josh knew nothing about Magnemite. He didn't understand its moods, its habits, its limitations … Josh could tell at a glance what kind of mood Bulbasaur was in. When Bulbasaur was feeling tired or ill or just fed-up, Josh knew, every time. What's more, he knew what to do about it. Watching Magnemite's vacant gaze, Josh realised that he hadn't the slightest idea how to treat an injured Magnemite – a living thing in his care.

Josh knew nothing about Magnemite. And as long as he didn't understand his pokémon, he would not be ready to battle for a Gym Badge.

"Return, Magnemite," he commanded. With a stiff bow to the Gym Leader, Josh strode swiftly from the battlefield. He didn't stop until he was through the doors and out into the morning sun.

"Hey! Wait up a sec," Eve called. "That was a tough battle, huh? Magnemite listened to you in the end though, and you've won yourself a Gym battle!"

Josh stood and stared at nothing, steadfastly refusing to look at her. For some reason he couldn't quite understand, he resented the Gym Leader's scolding all the more for having been witnessed by Eve.

"... are you ok?" she asked. Still not looking at her, Josh took a deep breath before answering.

"I don't like being talked down to," he said shortly.

"Bugsy was a little harsh. Having a type-advantage isn't a bad thing, and anyway you were at a disadvantage with a new pokémon too -"

"Eve," Josh cut in, "he was right. I'm not ready yet."

Magnemite's Poké Ball shone in the sun. For a brief moment, it almost looked like it had in the moonlight back on Route 32.

"You were right, too. I've learned something about Magnemite. Just not enough," he said.

"So what are you going to do now?" Eve asked carefully.

"First I'm going to the Pokémon Centre," Josh said, snapping the Poké Ball back onto his belt. "Then I am going to learn everything I can about Magnemite."

Josh looked at Eve for the first time since leaving the Gym. She was fiddling with her jacket zip nervously. Feeling a little guilty, Josh forced a smile.

"And then … I am going to _train_."

* * *

The common room of the Pokémon Centre was bigger and busier than any Pokémon Centre that Josh had yet seen. Not one, but three queues of trainers were lined up in front of the reception desk, which was attended by the Centre nurse and her two teenage daughters. Off to the right, trainers were taking the escalator from the bedrooms on the first floor or heading to the Centre canteen. Over to the left, in the open-plan lounge, a widescreen television showed coverage of recent battles from the Goldenrod City Gym. A few trainers were idly watching while they waited for their pokémon to finish treatment.

Josh drummed his fingers on the desktop, the sound drowned out by the general background buzz of the common room. Eve had sloped off a little earlier, muttering something about needing to stock up on medicines. Since neither of them intended to challenge Bugsy just yet, they'd decided to stay at the Pokémon Centre while he trained and Eve looked for another pokémon to catch.

"Ok, Joshua," the young Joy said as she handed his Trainer Card back. "Your magnemite's all checked in now. We'll keep you updated on its progress on the bulletin board."

Josh glanced up at the electronic bulletin board that dominated the back wall of the common room. The huge board displayed the status of all the pokémon undergoing treatment at the Centre. Magnemite's icon flashed up next to Bulbasaur's near the bottom right of the screen, marked with the status 'At Rest'.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Joy asked.

"Oh. Yes, actually! I have something belonging to a Pokémon Ranger who patrols Union Cave, I think. Could I leave it here?"

"Ohhh, you're _that_ Joshua! Here, this letter was left here for you this morning," Joy said, handing him a folded-over sheet of notepaper. Josh unfolded the letter, noticing the Poké Ball-and-laurel logo in the corner:

_Joshua,_

_If you are reading this note, then I was correct in my estimation of you. I hope you have learned a little lesson about the mountains. You were lucky that my Onix found you when he did. As for the equipment that you have been so honest as to try to return, please keep the sleeping bag as a gift. It is of old Ranger issue and was destined to be sold on as surplus, but there is plenty of wear left in it, more than enough for your purposes._

_Good luck!_

_Area Captain David Sandoval_

Josh thanked the teenage Joy, who was shamelessly trying to read the letter upside-down. As he made his way over to an empty space in the lounge, he realised that he hadn't actually made any plans to hang out with Eve. After leaving the Gym, when they had exchanged phone numbers, it hadn't occurred to Josh to think twice about it.

Grumbling to himself, Josh turned up the volume of the Pokégear velcroed to his jacket sleeve. It was one of the heavy wristwatch-style Pokégears – big, blunt and robust. Already it had been scuffed, soaked and sat on by Bulbasaur, yet it showed no sign of giving in. Though it was inelegant and unfashionable, Josh privately approved of the way his boot had completely failed to dent the fascia after he'd stomped on it.

He sighed and tried to tune out the chatter of the common room. Newspapers were scattered over the lounge, mostly Johto regional papers with the odd local publication. Josh rummaged around until he found what he hoped was there – a single spurned copy of the _Punch Times. _He smirked at the political cartoon on the front page and started to work his way through the sniggery articles. Halfway through an editorial on the state of the economy, his Pokégear started to ring. _That'll be Evelina_, he thought, ripping it off his wrist.

"Hullo?" he said.

"Hello Joshua," a stern voice answered.

"Oh. Hi Dad."

"Your mother's been trying to call you. Where are you?"

"I've been out of reception range, Dad! I'm in Azalea Town, I only got here this morning."

"Azalea Town," his father paused for an uncomfortably long moment. "Have you challenged the Gym Leader yet?"

"I've got to do some training first, the Gym Leader would beat me as it stands -"

"How do you know?" his dad cut in. "Just go for it. You're a smart boy. Just go for it, and challenge the Leader."

"Dad … it's not as simple as that. The trainer battle was hard enough. I'm not going to let my pokémon get hurt because I'm not ready," he said. Josh heard his dad sigh heavily, and he suppressed one of his own. He knew what was coming next.

"Josh, Josh, Josh … you've got eight Badges, eight battles ahead of you. Eight Gym battles that are _going to be tough_. You've got to learn to just go for it."

So my judgement is wrong as usual, he thought bitterly. _Will he never accept that sometimes I might know better than him? _Josh didn't trust himself to say anything. The old argument was just one wrong comment away.

"So what _have_ you done?"Dad said.

"I caught a magnemite," Josh said hopefully. "Up on the highlands on Route 32."

"Did you? Good. Magnemite aren't easy to handle."

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a tricky little screwball."

"You'll have to tell me how you caught it. I've got to get back to work now, though. Your mother's going to call you this evening, so watch your phone!"

"Yeah. I'm staying in the Pokémon Centre tonight. I'll talk to you later Dad."

Josh strapped the Pokégear back onto his jacket sleeve, picking at bits of fluff stuck in the velcro. That was the problem with talking to his dad, right there. He always thought he knew better, about everything. The man managed to find something wrong with every choice he made for himself, and when Josh did things his own way anyway – well, that's when they'd start shouting at each other.

_Ding, ding, ding-ding-ding!_ Trainers looked up at the bulletin board as the Centre's PA system chimed out. Someone's pokémon were healed.

"Joshua Cook, your bulbasaur is fully healed."

Josh tossed the newspaper aside. There was work to do.

* * *

There was a library on the eastern side of the building, crammed into a single room adjacent to the canteen. Most Pokémon Centres had one – licensed trainers could borrow books for free if they returned them to the same Pokémon Centre, or pay a small fee to return them to any Centre in the region. At this time of the day there weren't many trainers browsing the bookshelves. The librarian peered at Josh from behind the counter, as if looking for a book was highly suspicious behaviour.

Josh took a deep breath. To him, libraries smelled of dry words and crackly pages of knowledge quietly fossilising between dust jackets until someone curious needed to know something … somewhere in this library he was sure there was a book that could tell him what he needed to know about his little screwball. In its own way, it would be the key to winning his first Gym Badge.

Josh polished his glasses, and started to train.


	9. The Beast of the Sea

**Interlude - The Beast of the Sea**

Under the grey waves, the beast of the sea beat her great wings and picked up speed. Her feathers flashed silver-white when they caught the weak rays of dawn. Forty feet long from her draconic head to the tip of her tail. The sea surged at her passing, waves clashed in her wake. The beast was old, old and strong. In the open ocean nothing could match her - she could swim fastest, dive deepest, and never tire. In the shallow waters off Blue Point Isle, however, things were different.

The pursuing humans kept pace, the saw-toothed buzzing of their jet-skis filling the beast's ears. They had ambushed her in the grey half-light before dawn, twelve of them, appearing out of nowhere with a roar of engines. Try as she might the beast couldn't outrun them, not in these waters. Raising her voice above the din, she let out a high, lilting cry. For those that could understand, it meant: _I am here! Be somewhere else!_

In a flurry of light the hunters finally released their own pokémon – a whole flock of golduck, almost thirty of them slashing their way through the water. They spread out rapidly, taking up position above, behind, below. The beast instinctively threw up a Safeguard. A group of golduck closed in on Aqua Jets – the beast swept them away with a beat of her wings. Psybeams stabbed into her back, burning away streams of feathers that glittered like silver cinders before they dissolved into the sea.

Chased by Psybeams the beast twisted, undulating like a serpent in an effort to dodge the worst of the attacks. A brace of Water Pulses battered into her belly. In her youth she might have been nimble enough, but now she was old, strong and long. The golduck flock continued to harass her, spreading out to attack from all angles.

This was not the first time that the beast had been hunted by humans. On these islands her kind was well known to humanity, the beast knew. Most of the islanders venerated her kind, but some would always try their luck and try to capture her. These hunters were clever, and had brought cunning pokémon. One-by-one the golduck's eyes shone blue. The beast beat her wings, but it was an effort to move, like swimming through oil. She remembered a time when she was young, when hunters had chased her into the shallows and then used psychic pokémon to pin her down. Driven to near-exhaustion, she'd been forced to unleash the Aeroblast …

Roused to sudden fury she thrashed and writhed like a maniac, her rage churning the sea into froth. They had pushed her too far! She would tolerate these hunters no longer. The beast let out a deep echoing whale-cry, its dreadful harmonics shaking the sea. It was a call that even the gyarados feared. The golduck scattered. They knew what was coming.

Beneath the jet-skis of the hunters, powerful new currents flowed, met, and _turned_.

Whirlpool! It swirled into savage existence, grabbing the hunter's watercraft and dragging them down into the vortex. The humans were torn from the saddle as the raging waters tossed them around like toys. Those lucky few who were thrown to the edge of the whirlpool were rescued by their golduck, left adrift for a long day until they washed up on the Blue Point shore. The unlucky majority were swallowed by the maelstrom, never to see the shore again.

The silver-white beast leisurely beat her great wings. As she lost interest in the destruction she had wrought the maelstrom calmed, leaving behind nothing but open sea and abandoned jet-skis. Now she raised her voice in lilting whale-song, sweet and melodious as taillow calls at dusk. For those who could understand, her song meant: _I am here. Come back to me._

Under the grey waves, the beast of the sea swam on …

… followed by her children.


	10. Two is Company

**Chapter Eight – Two is Company**

_**Joshua**_

_Pokémon are endlessly fascinating in their incredible diversity, their powers and abilities unlike any other form of life that we know of. They wield elemental forces that range from the mysterious to the spectacular. They heal wonderfully from all manner of injuries - a process that the technology of the Poké Ball accelerates - and they have an instinctive understanding of our languages. It is not for nothing that spiritualists throughout the ages have speculated that humans and pokémon were somehow meant to co-exist._

_It is for this reason that I devoted my youth to the understanding of pokémon psychology, and why I chose to write this book. There is nothing remarkable in the character of myself or any of my family that prefers us to the care of pokémon. It is a skill that anyone can develop if they do so with an open heart -_

"One cranberry juice aaand one perry. Your lunches will be following in a couple of minutes. Can I get you guys anything else?"

Josh looked up from his book as the waitress set down his drink. It was another bright spring day, and both he and Eve had been determined to stop for lunch at the riverside bistro from the moment they had set eyes on it that morning. The little town of Longwater was a half hour's journey away from Azalea by bus. It had a similar quaint charm, living half in the past with its red-tiled houses, its winding alleyways leading to unexpected courtyards, its ivy-hung walls and window boxes overflowing with flowers. Against all reason, steam driven paddle-ferries plied the waterway, visiting the villages up and down the river. A light wind blew from the north-east, bringing with it the scents of the river and the barest hint of distant redwoods. Sitting outside on the bistro patio, Josh took a long, contented breath and savoured the myriad springtime aromas.

"A bit early in the day, isn't it?" Eve said, raising an eyebrow at the perry.

"A cold perry on a sunny lunchtime? What could be finer?" Josh replied with a smile. Eve was still giving him a sceptical look. "Oh, alright. Normally I would wait, but since we'll be back in Azalea by dinnertime I want to have one now. This is cider country, Eve! And I am reliably informed that Crossbow Summer perry ranks among the best that Longwater has to offer."

He took an experimental sip of the pale cider. It tasted crisp and clear, with the light, sweet flavour of wepear offset by the sharp tanginess of the alcohol. The perry went down almost as easily as water. Thirsty though he was, Josh resisted the urge to finish half the pint in one pull.

"Oh yes? And who's your reliable informant?" Eve asked playfully.

"My dad."

"Big drinker, huh?"

"Not really. He's what you might call a connoisseur, though _he'd_ never call himself one. On weekends he has a pint or two of something ordered from a micro-brewery … when I was a teenager he used to give me a sip, and if I could tell him exactly where the beer was brewed I could have a full pint," he half-smiled at the memory. Eve smiled back at him, leaning forward on the table. _She has such a pretty smile_, Josh thought, and fiddled with his book reflexively.

"And so are you, by the look of it," she said, nodding at the book. "_Every Trainer A Nurse_. It's the best general pokémon healthcare primer around."

"Oh, do you have a copy?"

"You haven't looked at the inside cover have you?" she replied with a quick wink. Josh opened the front cover – the inside dust jacket showed a photo of a bespectacled Joy in a white lab coat, watching a young Joy play with a totodile. Beneath was a short caption: _'_The author, Dr Imogen Joy with her niece Evelina'. It almost looked like a spontaneous snapshot, Dr Imogen watching with a proud smile as the teenage Eve played with the totodile without a hint of self-consciousness.

"So your aunt is a pokémon professor?" he asked.

"Well, sort of! Aunt Immey is the secondary at the Cherrygrove Centre now – oh, that's like the second-in-command of a Pokémon Centre – but way before that she got her doctorate at Celadon University, studied pokémon psychology under Professor Oak, even did a bit of pokémon training as part of her research!" Eve stopped abruptly and contemplated the photo of herself and her aunt. "It was Aunt Immey that helped me get the money together for this journey. Oh, here's our lunch."

Josh straightened up in his chair while the waitress made her way over, plates in hand. A loud _ding! _soundedas he accidentally kicked something metallic under the table. "Sorry Magnemite," he apologised. "You alright there, screwball?"

Magnemite didn't answer. It was trying to think. Its trainer had polished it, before they left the Pokémon Centre that morning. It had been the single most enjoyable experience of its life. Now Magnemite was having to think, really _think_ for the first time. For reasons it couldn't quite understand, Magnemite wanted to please its trainer. _I must think about this some more_, it thought, and then tried to remember what 'I' meant.

Magnemite's trainer was peacefully disassembling a splendid river trout, while Eve attacked a lentil salad as if it had personally offended her.

"I almost wish I'd ordered the fish myself," she said.

"You wish, you wish, you'd ordered a fish. Here, try some of mine," Josh said, loading his fork with a mouthful of trout.

"It does look good," she admitted. "Hold on, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You know, you don't have to share -"

"I know. I'm offering."

"Yeah, but you've paid for it."

"It's only a taste, Eve!"

"I mean, you're welcome to try my salad -"

"_Eat_ the damn trout!" Josh stretched his arm out a bit further, the fork hovering below Evelina's nose. She still hadn't taken her eyes off it.

Eve leaned over a little shyly and ate the proffered mouthful off Josh's fork. "Mm," she said indistinctly, "s' good."

They glanced up at the sound of wings thrashing at the air. A wild pidgeotto was circling above the bistro, crest feathers blazing a brilliant scarlet in the sun. It looked small for its species, perhaps a feather over two feet from beak to tail.

"Pidgeooo!" it cried triumphantly. "Pidgeot-TO!"

The pidgeotto landed on a convenient lamppost and glared down at Josh.

"I don't like the way it's looking at me," Josh said.

"Don't be silly," said Eve, reapplying herself to her salad. "All pidgeotto look like that."

"No way. It's staring at me," Josh glanced down at his trout. "Oh no," he said as the pidgeotto leapt from its perch. "No no no, this is mine ..."

Josh raised his fork threateningly as the bird bore down on the table. Pidgeotto landed, ignoring Josh's attempts to stab it, screamed "PIDGEOOO!" in his face and delivered a painful peck to the ear. Then it was off in a whirl of feathers, leaving behind Josh clutching his ear and Eve shrieking curses.

Pidgeotto retreated to the roof of the bistro with Josh's trout clutched in its talons. It immediately began tucking into its stolen prize. Josh leapt to his feet with a growl.

"Oi! That cost me seven dollars, you pirate!" Josh raged. Then he noticed his upturned perry glass. "That was my – that was my bloody _pint_! That tears it! Magnemite, Thundershock!"

Magnemite emerged from its place under the table. It paused, aimed, and shocked the pidgeotto thoroughly. Josh watched in disbelief as the bird pokémon screamed in fury, apparently completely unharmed. It took to the sky again, sweeping its wings back and curling into a dive.

"Tackle, a Normal-type attack -"

"That's not a Quick Attack?" Eve gasped.

Pidgeotto smashed into Magnemite, sending it spinning away. Magnemite steadied itself and hit pidgeotto with another Thundershock as it started to regain height.

"Look!" Eve called out. "There's a glow, around its feathers!"

She was right. It was hard to see through the glare of the Thundershock, but Josh could just make out a golden haze outlining pidgeotto. _Whatever that is, I'll bet it's why Thundershock won't work_.

"Alright, Magnemite! Get ready for Sonic Boom," he commanded. A Poké Ball whizzed past, cracking open to reveal a scruffy black meowth. It took one look at the pidgeotto and unsheathed its claws.

"Sorry Josh, but I want this," Eve cried. "Meowth, Fury Swipes!"

Pidgeotto lined up for another attack run on Magnemite. It swept down in a couple of wing beats, faster than ever. Meowth grounded it in a single leap, giving no quarter as it slashed madly at its foe.

"Enough! To me!" Eve barked. "Poké Ball, go!"

Eve pitched her Poké Ball with deadly accuracy, striking pidgeotto square on the back before it could take flight again. The Ball rattled and bounced around wildly -

\- the pidgeotto within thrashed and struggled in fury. She refused to be captured so easily! If she just struggled hard enough, then -

\- the Ball burst open as the capture lock failed. Pidgeotto shot up into the air even before it had properly re-materialised, calling in triumph before wheeling away south-east over the town. Evelina cursed sincerely. Both she and Josh watched the pidgeotto soar over the roofs of Longwater - here on the eastern side of the river the town tumbled down a steep hill till it met the riverbank. Josh looked back at his spilled perry ruefully. It would have served the blasted pigeon right to have been caught by Eve.

"Sir? Miss? Are you both ok?" A man in a neatly pressed shirt and apron was making his way through the tables towards them. "I'm the owner," he said, shaking Josh's hand. "And I'm very sorry about that pidgeotto. We've been trying to capture it for a while, but for some reason electric attacks don't affect it at all. If you'd care to reorder then your lunch is on me, with my apologies."

"What's up that way?" Eve asked, pointing towards the south-east.

"That way? The battlefields are in that direction, by the apricorn trees. Pidgeotto likes to roost there, we think."

Eve looked up the hill thoughtfully. "Right," she said. "Come on, Meowth! Let's go bag that bird!"

"Eve, wait!" Josh called after her. "What about our lunch?"

But Eve was already pounding up a flight of stone steps. Josh sighed and held up Magnemite's Poké Ball. "Come on, screwball. Looks like lunch is going to have to wait."

* * *

The cyndaquil blew out a dense Smokescreen, forcing Magnemite to abort its Tackle.

"Way to go, Sori! Now, use Ember!" its trainer ordered. She was a perky black girl in a red tartan miniskirt, and had been fighting hard to keep her advantage over Magnemite. A Zephyr Badge glinted proudly on her lapel. Josh had been trying to get one final clean hit in but her cyndaquil just kept evading Magnemite's attacks.

A cloud of fiery sparks jetted from somewhere inside the smoke, catching Magnemite off-guard. It spun on its axis rapidly to try and throw off the embers clinging to its metal skin.

"Hang in there, screwball! Come on, Sonic Boom, through the smoke!" Josh called. The Smokescreen burst apart as easily as Sleep Powder, the shock wave blowing it apart and tossing the cyndaquil across the concrete battlefield. Both pokémon were looking battered, each snatching a moment to rest while their trainers took stock. Magnemite had battled tenaciously despite its type-disadvantage. It was more focused on the battle than before, Josh was sure of it. After taking direct hits from several Fire-type attacks, Josh felt he owed his pokémon a break.

"Hey. How about we call it a day? I don't know about your cyndaquil, but my screwball here has fought enough," he said.

"Yeah, ok," his opponent replied. "Sori's pretty tired too. Good battle, mister!"

She recalled her cyndaquil and took off at a run, leaving Josh alone on the battlefield with Magnemite quietly circling him. He flung himself onto a bench at the edge of the field. The battlefield was surrounded by a chain-link fence, overhung in places by the branches of apricorn trees. The pink and white apricorns were in season, the bright fruits hanging heavily among the budding leaves.

He was about to call Magnemite to him when he remembered what he had read in Dr Imogen's book. _'Magnet pokémon display affection by repeatedly orbiting objects.'_ Josh smiled at his Magnemite. It was a strange creature, but armed with Dr Imogen's book, he was beginning to understand what made his little screwball tick.

Just then, Eve joined him on the bench, plunking herself down with a "Hmph!" She folded her arms tight across her chest and scowled into the middle-distance.

"Still can't catch that pidgeotto, eh?" said Josh.

"Hmph."

"I've been thinking. I reckon I know how you can catch it."

"Hmph?"

Josh pointed to the overhanging branches. "White apricorns," he said.

"White apricorns," she repeated dully. "White apricorns! Fast Balls! Josh, you're brilliant!" Eve leapt up and carefully selected an apricorn, slicing through the stem with a pocket knife.

"Josh, you're brilliant," Eve beamed at him. "Hmm … maybe I'll take a couple of colours."

"Don't thank me too soon. I think you'll find that you owe me lunch."

"What? I do not!"

"You do, Miss Evelina, because the bistro owner was going to offer us lunch for free but _you_ ran off to catch a pokémon."

"But pidgeotto was getting away -"

"Free lunch," Josh countered.

Eve looked ready to keep arguing, but her scowl changed to a smile instead. "Maybe I'd rather take you out to dinner," she said archly.

"Do I get to choose the restaurant?"

"I don't see why not. You seem to have good taste," she said with a wink. "Are we square?"

"We're square," he said. "Come on, let's head back to Azalea! If we're quick you might have your Ball ready for tomorrow."

* * *

Humming happily to herself, Ledyba landed on the damp turf and clicked shut her wing cases. Her armour shone a healthy crimson, flecked with a cluster of irregular black spots.

"Kind of looks like a constellation, doesn't it," Josh said thoughtfully. "A bit like Lyra."

"You think so?" Eve replied.

"Sure. That big spot there could be Vega. And there, R Lyrae, beta Lyrae ..."

Ledyba buzzed her way over to her trainer and landed on her head. "Maybe I should call you Lyra then," Eve said. "Yes. Lyra's a good name."

* * *

Pidgeotto circled slowly over Longwater. She had lost her, and now she couldn't find her again. She was looking for the female human with the pink crest, the one with the savage black meowth. On some level she was aware that the human was trying to catch her. On some level she _wanted_ to be caught, by a human strong enough to overmatch her.

She mugged a passing human for his hamburger, but it just wasn't the same.

* * *

Sunset was fading into twilight when Josh got back to the Pokémon Centre. He found Eve relaxing outside with her ledyba. She'd let down her rings, the loose locks falling to the small of her back.

Lyra buzzed something at Eve. "Are you sure?" she replied. "You're usually too sleepy around this time."

"Dyyy-ledyyy," Lyra said cryptically.

"Ok then. Be back when the stars come out," Eve told her. Lyra spiralled into the air and flew off into the dusk.

"You can understand her?" Josh asked uncertainly.

"The words she said? No. But I understand the meaning well enough," she giggled at his surprised expression. "It's not _that_ unusual. You can already read your bulbasaur's moods, can't you? I wouldn't be surprised if you started to understand his speech before long. It happens with most trainers, sooner or later. Anyway," she added, "I'd best shower and change since we're going to dinner."

"Erm, Eve? We can eat at the cafeteria here if you like."

"Mm-mm," she said, shaking her head firmly. "I said I'd take you out to dinner, and I meant it. And, um, it's nice to have company … I had a lot of fun today."

* * *

"_I'll see you when you've won your Badge!" _She had meant it in a playful way, but to Josh it still felt like a vote of confidence. He had wanted to win anyway - for the sake of proving Dad wrong, and for the sake of his own pride. But now he also wanted to win because of the confidence Eve had in him. She was probably in Longwater by now, Fast Ball in hand.

He leaned against the bole of a chestnut tree and took a few deep breaths. The Gym felt more like a forest than a building. _This is ridiculous. I'm never nervous. _The strategy he'd devised should work, but … Bugsy might throw anything at him. There was no way he could research all the possibilities. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to breathe slowly. When his heart rate dropped, Josh headed to the dirt battlefield in the middle of the Gym.

"So Joshua, come to challenge me already?" Bugsy called. He was standing up in the branches of a tall elm, his retinue of bug catchers clustered below.

"I've come here to win a Hive Badge," Josh called back, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

Bugsy shrugged. "I accept all challengers. Benny, would you fetch the referee? Tell him Joshua has arrived for a two-on-two battle. Brandon, hold the ladder please."

They took their places on the field while they waited for Benny to return with the referee. After a while Bugsy said, "Have you ever heard the saying 'He who learns the rules of the Bug pokémon, learns to rule the Bug pokémon'?"

"No. As I recall, I was told to go and bond with my Electric pokémon," Josh replied evenly. He was faintly pleased to see Bugsy raise a quizzical eyebrow, as if not quite sure what to make of his remark.

Josh was still focussing on keeping his breathing steady when the referee arrived, standing out in sharp contrast to the Gym Trainers in his black and gold uniform. With a flourish of his flags – red for Bugsy, green for Josh – the referee announced the rules.

"This official Gym battle between the challenger Joshua Cook of Mulberry Town and the Gym Leader Bugsy of the Azalea Town Gym is about to commence! Each trainer will use two pokémon and only the challenger may make substitutions! A Hive Badge is at stake!"

_My pride is at stake._

"And … begin!"

"You had better be ready, Joshua! Go Spinarak!"

_Stay calm. You can do this_. "Magnemite! Let's win this."

There was a moment of absolute stillness. Magnemite hung motionless, unfazed by Spinarak staring back with a spider's patient menace. There was something unnerving about the way it stood perched on the tips of its yellow legs, beady black eyes giving away nothing. _Your move, Bugsy_.

Bugsy broke cover first. "Use String Shot," he yelled. Spinarak went from statue-still to lightning-fast. Magnemite instinctively dodged the String Shot and retaliated with a Thundershock, but Spinarak was already moving, somersaulting into the trees on the end of a silken safety-line.

"Thundershock, again," Josh said.

"Webs, Spinarak."

Chased by Thundershocks, Spinarak zipped from tree-to-tree leaving behind trip-lines as it went. It moved with sudden bursts of frantic movement, all skittering legs and flying String Shot, and before long it had spun a net of silk over the whole battlefield.

But Josh had spotted a mistake. "Sonic Boom," he ordered calmly. The Sonic Boom sounded off with the familiar crashing _ckroom _that Josh was beginning to love_, _accompanied by a clatter of snapping threads. In one swift attack, Magnemite ripped Spinarak's net to ragged shreds.

"He who learns the rules of the Bug pokémon, learns to rule the Bug pokémon," Josh quoted. "Spinarak spun its web too taut."

"... very clever, Joshua. Let's see if you can figure this out – Shadow Sneak!"

Darting into the gloom beneath the branches, Spinarak melted into the shadows and disappeared from sight. Josh was instantly suspicious. _Why Shadow Sneak? _A relatively weak Ghost-type attackshould barely affect Magnemite with its Steel-typing. But Spinarak hadn't attacked – it had melted into the shadows beneath the trees as perfectly as if it was not there at all. _What are you up to, Bugsy?_

"On your guard, Magnemite. As soon as you see Spinarak, zap it."

"Sorry Joshua, but it won't be that easy. Use Night Shade!"

Black rays like the negative of a Psybeam lanced out from the gloom, smashing into Magnemite's left magnet with a flash of shadow. The blast shaded to a sinister red at the edges, throwing out shadows rather than glare. _Shadow Sneak was never intended to be an attack, it was camouflage_. Josh racked his brain, trying to remember the effects of Night Shade. It was a Ghost-type attack, but why then was Magnemite so easily injured by it? Volleys of Night Shades shot out from the trees. Many missed, but too many found their mark. Josh winced as Magnemite let out a grating screech – one of its magnets had bent out of shape. _Switching for Bulbasaur won't solve anything. I can't see Spinarak and neither can Magnemite. Night Shade bypasses Steel-type resistance somehow …_

Josh realised he was in trouble.

* * *

Pidgeotto was getting angry. A ledyba, a damn _bug_, was challenging her to battle! What was worse, this bug wasn't afraid of her! She just couldn't squash it, try as she might, this brave little ledyba that fought for the female human with the pink crest. She didn't want this.

She wanted to battle the meowth!

Pidgeotto decided that she had had enough. She climbed sharply to gain some height, fully expecting the ledyba to follow. No matter. She was fast and nimble, and could out climb any mere bug. Wheeling round, she glared down at the ledyba and the pink-crested human far below. Time to make an end of it!

Rolling into a dive, Pidgeotto swept her wings back and plummeted like a meteor. A few quick flaps of her wings corrected her course, a barrel roll compensated for ledyba's sluggish dodge. Next, the talons swung forward, six gleaming claws ready to crush ledyba once and for all. Less than a second before impact, there was a flash of green and then -

It was like flying into a brick wall.

Disoriented and half-conscious, Pidgeotto tumbled to earth. The pink-crested human threw a ball at her, a red, yellow and white ball …

* * *

Magnemite narrowly evaded another Night Shade. It flicked a Thundershock into the trees, guessing at Spinarak's position and failing.

"If you can't cope with surprises, how do you expect to win one Badge, never mind eight?" Bugsy said. "You should probably quit now rather than lose completely."

Josh ignored him. _Calm down and think, you fool! _Spinarak hadn't stepped out into the sun since using Shadow Sneak. That must mean it could only hide in the shadows. But surely it couldn't hide in just _any_ shadows, it would still need to be able to see Magnemite. Which means that it's probably hiding in the widest patch of shadow …

_There. _A space overhung by the evergreen spray of a cypress. "Magnemite!" he called, pointing with an outhrust arm. "Sonic Boom that area now!"

Whether it was out of trust, Josh didn't know, but Magnemite didn't even hesitate. It simply spun, and fired. And fired. And fired.


	11. Scary Shiny Glasses

**Chapter Nine – Scary Shiny Glasses**

_**Evelina**_

Evelina skidded through the Gym's automatic doors and legged it through the trees. Dry leaf litter crackled beneath her boots. _I hope I haven't missed it! _From up ahead came the sights and sounds of battle - the high-pitched sizzle of Thundershocks, Night Shade rays flickering through the trees. Leaping over a gnarled tree root, Eve thumped to a halt behind the trainer's box.

Josh didn't appear to notice. He was concentrating on the battle, on his magnemite hovering over the middle of the field. Bugsy's pokémon – presumably a spinarak – seemed to be hiding somewhere in the trees off to the left. _How much of the battle have I missed? _Josh was shifting his weight from foot to foot, as if the soles of his boots were burning.

"If you can't cope with surprises, how do you expect to win one Badge, never mind eight?" Bugsy said. "You should probably quit now rather than lose completely."

Eve felt a pang of disappointment shoot through her chest. Was the battle really going that badly? But Josh said nothing of quitting. Instead he was methodically scanning the treeline - trying to spot Bugsy's pokémon, perhaps.

"Magnemite!" he called, pointing with an outhrust arm. "Sonic Boom that area now!"

Magnemite spun and locked onto its target with remarkable speed. For a brief second Eve wondered whether Magnemite could see something that she couldn't - or whether it was trusting to its trainer's commands – and then it was blasting away with Sonic Boom. Branches snapped and foliage shredded; the shock waves bulldozed the leaf litter and scoured the soil. From somewhere in the trees came a panicked "_Spinaa!_" and a thump.

"How the hell ..." Bugsy gasped in shock. The referee edged forward for a closer look.

"Spinarak is unable to battle! Magnemite wins!" he called. Eve suppressed a cheer with some difficulty. She didn't want to distract him, not at this critical moment.

"I don't know how you figured out where Spinarak was hiding. I'm wondering whether it was a lucky guess," Bugsy said.

"Calculation," Josh replied.

"Well, consider into your calculations the ashigaru to scyther's samurai – Beedrill! Attack stance!"

The Beedrill that emerged from the Poké Ball was a fine example of its species. Three feet long, with a glossy golden carapace, strong limbs, and beautifully proportioned wings. _And disciplined, too_. Most Beedrill were berserkers, full of nervous energy. This one hovered almost motionlessly a few feet in the air. It immediately took a stance, thrusting its tail stinger forward, right arm locked out, left held at a right angle above its head ready to stab forwards.

If Josh felt any elation from his victory, he didn't show it. He looked up at the ceiling, for some cryptic reason, before recalling Magnemite. _Smart move. _If the battle had been hard-fought, then Magnemite would probably be knocked out in short order. This way, the Poké Ball would allow it to heal a little and become his holdout pokémon.

"Battle's on, Bulbasaur!" Josh called out. Bulbasaur shouted no battle-cries upon entering the field, instead choosing to mimic his trainer's composure. Eve couldn't help but look at the seed pokémon with a professional eye. Bulbasaur's bulb was a handsome velvety forest green, his scales shiny and supple, closer to green than teal in colour. She was a little impressed by his lean physique – captive bulbasaur often tended to develop a greedy streak and needed a firm trainer to stop them overeating.

To her slight surprise, Josh took the initiative. "Vine Whip," he ordered hesitantly. _A strange move_, Eve thought, given Beedrill's double-resistance to Grass-type attacks, but one that would allow Bulbasaur to attack from beyond the reach of those vicious stingers.

"Defence stance, Beedrill!" Bugsy countered, his Beedrill snapping into a new stance - reorienting itself to face Bulbasaur side-on, pulling back its tail stinger and bringing its left arm down, tight across the thorax. Bulbasaur lashed at it from all sides, striking at the wings, the thorax, the abdomen. With practiced ease Beedrill parried and blocked, deflecting the strongest attacks and ignoring others completely.

"I think that's enough waiting around," said Bugsy. "Use your Agility!"

The low drone of Beedrill's wings rose to a buzzsaw wail. It zipped around the field in irregular loops, easily dodging the flailing vines that tried in vain to swat it from the air. Bulbasaur grunted "Bulba! Bulba!" with every attack.

"Don't try and follow it Bulbasaur," Josh said. "Use Growth, and let it come to you."

Deep within Bulbasaur's bulb, a soft green phosphorescence flickered into life, eerily beautiful in its strangeness. Yellow motes of light lit up from nowhere, dancing and flirting around the swell of his bulb like fireflies.

"Saaaur!" Bulbasaur howled with exhilaration, bathed in the glow of his own phosphorescence. Seizing its chance Beedrill slashed down with its stinger, drawing a thin red line down Bulbasaur's face before cutting a deep gash on the backstroke. Faint green afterimages followed behind the stinger, brighter on the second stroke. _Fury Cutter._ The third Fury Cutter missed as Bulbasaur smashed it to the ground with a Growth-assisted Tackle. Quick though it was, Beedrill only just managed to dodge Bulbasaur's attempt to trample it where it lay.

"You're doing great, Bulbasaur, keep it up!" Josh called.

"Good, Beedrill! Now swarm Bulbasaur with Twineedle!"

Wings wailing out a harsh buzz, Beedrill plummeted vertically down, stingers poised and ready. The first strike whistled past Bulbasaur's flank and ploughed into the dirt; the second caught him behind the ear, the third stabbed at his neck. Bulbasaur tried to drive the poison bee off with Vine Whips – Beedrill slid easily aside and attacked from the flank, perforating his bulb with a flurry of Twineedles. Josh watched, jaw clenched, as Beedrill switched flanks with a mid-air roll, slashing with Fury Cutter as it went.

"It's all about speed. Nothing can match a Bug pokémon that's been trained to move," said Bugsy confidently. He looked relaxed, sure of his strategy and sure of his pokémon, giving orders with an arm outstretched. It was quite common for trainers to make all kinds of grand gestures during the heat of battle – Eve knew that she herself had a tendency to snap her fingers a lot – but Josh hardly moved. Arms folded, he just stood there in the trainer's box with an air of measured concentration. _I know it's all a battle persona, but it's kinda, well ... cool._

Yet Eve saw an expression on his face she'd seen once before. Behind those dark eyes the cogs in his head were whirring. She half-expected the sun to reflect off his glasses dramatically.

"Bulbasaur!" Josh shouted. "I need you to trust me! Don't aim this next attack!"

"Bulbasaur!" he protested.

"I know you can do it! I just need you to trust me! Sleep Powder!"

Sleep Powder mushroomed into the air, a heavy, heady cloud that settled around Bulbasaur like veil. Beedrill rose in panic and blundered straight into the powder. Fighting to stay airborne, it zigzagged drowsily out of the reach of Tackle. Bugsy was yelling encouragement, yelling at Beedrill to stay awake.

"Quick! Give it a Leech Seed barrage!"

Bulbasaur let fly with a shower of Leech Seeds, the seeds raining down around Beedrill. With nowhere for it to go three found their mark, wrapping the bee in a thicket of tendrils. _I don't know if he knows it yet, but Josh has got this battle won._

"Attack stance! Give it everything you've got!" Bugsy shouted. _He's panicking! _Beedrill surged forwards, stingers stabbing with all the berserker fury of its wild cousins.

"Keep it in front of you! Heal yourself if you have to," Josh ordered. Bugsy's pokémon was tiring with the Leech Seeds rapidly sapping away its vitality. Each strike was slower than the last, and Bulbasaur seemed to know it. He refused to let Beedrill slip out of his field of vision, constantly herding it back into sight with his Vine Whips. _Finish it! One good strong Tackle and it's over!_

Bulbasaur reclaimed one of his Leech Seeds, his wounds visibly sealing up before Eve's eyes. Beedrill landed with a stagger – too tired to fly, its legs shaking with the effort of standing up. _Call it, referee! _Bulbasaur reached out and grabbed Beedrill's stingers, effectively disarming it. Beedrill thrashed and kicked in a futile tug-of-war.

With a certain degree of care, Bulbasaur lifted Beedrill and smashed it against a tree, again and again, until finally, it stopped struggling. Eve's eyes were on the referee. _Call it, damn you!_

Up swept the green flag.

"Beedrill is unable to battle! The victory goes to the challenger, _Joshua Cook!_"

"YES!" Eve punched the air, her pent-up excitement bubbling up like soda fizz. Surprised by her outburst, Josh turned just in time to be nearly bowled over as one hundred and twenty pounds of young womanhood threw her arms around his neck. For a brief, horrible moment all Eve could think of was what a complete fool she had made of herself … and then he was wrapping his arms around her, and laughing.

"Um, congratulations?" she said redundantly after they broke apart, and giggled. Josh gave her an odd, perplexed look.

Having finished recalling his Beedrill, Bugsy had been waiting tactfully for them to break apart. "I was merciless, but you beat me anyway," he said. "You've earned this Joshua – the Hive Badge."

The round metal badge shone bright and new in the springtime sun, black and red like a ledyba's back. Josh took it between finger and thumb, staring at his prize. Eve wondered what he was thinking.

"You know, Bugsy," he said slowly, "when I came here to challenge you, I wasn't thinking about the Badge. But now I'm holding it in my hands, despite the fact that I didn't really want it till now, I can't remember the last time I was so happy to achieve anything."

"I think you've got potential, Joshua, and I'm not just saying that," Bugsy said. "You strategise well, and you can definitely think on your feet. What I'm not seeing yet is the passion. And that's something you can only find yourself."

"Oh, hey!" Eve broke in. "You should get your Badge scanned at the Pokémon Centre!"

"Scanned?" Josh replied.

"Each Gym Badge you win allows you to claim PokéGelt," Bugsy explained. "PokéGelt is a currency that you can exchange for pokémon-related items and services. It's banked on your Trainer Card, so you can claim your Gelt at any Pokémon Centre. Oh, and Eve? If you've come to challenge me, I'm afraid it'll have to wait a while. Come back around five o'clock."

"That's great. I'll be ready then," Eve replied.

_I just hope Josh will want to stay to watch my battle._

* * *

From: Imogen Joy

Sent: 1 April 2012 22:13:34

To: Evelina Joy

Eve,

It would depend upon the pidgeotto. I doubt that it will be wary after capture, since it has been attacking humans for their food. Strange behaviour for a rural pidgeotto, given that food should be plentiful. I suspect it likes battles and steals food to provoke combat. If you keep talking to it through the Poké Ball – as you did with Meowth – then it will come to understand that you're a friend. Keep a firm hand, though, or else it will try to challenge you for dominance.

I wish I could be there! I never got the chance to visit Azalea while the flowers were in bloom. How did you like Longwater? You should take the paddle-ferry up river to the Ilex Forest. Trust me, leave the boat at Withy End and walk on to Arborville. There are trainer's trails that will take you round Lake of Life Reserve through the Heartwoods to the Ilex Forest proper.

I still think that you should talk to your mother. If you won't call her then at least e-mail her. I know that you don't believe me, but she misses you and would love to hear about your adventures.

* * *

From: Evelina Joy

Sent: 2 April 2012 12:24:16

To: Imogen Joy

We've been over this. If Mum really wanted to hear about my adventures then she would have supported me in the first place. It's my help around the Centre that she misses. I've made up my mind, and that's that. Anyway, it's not like she has no idea what I'm doing – I have to stay at Centres, remember?

I caught that pidgeotto. Had to use a Fast Ball to do it, but I caught it. Turns out it has the Motor Drive ability – isn't that crazy? I know that pokémon can sometimes have unusual abilities but wow! It's got fighting spirit alright, I don't see any problems with it obeying me in battle, but I want to spar a few times before the Gym just to make sure. I'll be battling Bugsy this evening.

I haven't decided which route to take next. It's something I don't want to decide until after the battle. Let you know how it goes.

Eve

* * *

"Meowooooo!" Meowth howled piteously as Eve dragged him to his doom. His claws scrabbled and gouged at the floor but it was no use. She had a steel grip, both hands locked tight around his tail. He had sensed that something was wrong the moment she'd let him out his Poké Ball. Growing up as an alley-tom had taught him to run at the first sign of trouble, but Eve could move faster than a human had any right to.

[Somebody stop her! She's no nurse, she's a monster!] he howled. [Call the cops! Confiscate her Trainer Card!]

Eve took no notice. Meowth's increasingly frantic hollering was drawing attention from the other trainers in the Pokémon Centre. Some looked annoyed at the din. Others – the cat lovers, most likely – looked on in horror. Josh had staked out a space by the lounge for her, where he was test-pitching his new tent. Next to him was what Meowth so dreaded – a plastic basin of warm water.

Eve seized her pokémon by the scruff. "You are _having_ a sodding bath, whether you like it or not!" she hissed.

[This crazy bitch is trying to drown me!] Meowth yowled. [Murder! Murder! Mur-blbl-bbl-blr!]

Eve gave him a thorough dunking in the tub before bringing him up for air. "Shut. Up. And put those claws away, because if you scratch me, by God _you will regret it!_"

Meowth watched her sullenly, water dripping off the ends of his drooping whiskers. [MUR-bbl-blubl-bll!]

"Is that really necessary?" Josh asked with an amused smile.

"I'll have no grubby pokémon on _my_ team," she said, methodically scrubbing Meowth's fur.

[Don't act so proud. I can smell your pits from here, pinko.]

"At least I don't wash my hair with spit!" Eve snapped. His constant struggles splashed an especially large spray over her polo shirt, and she snarled in annoyance. Meowth quailed, sensing that he'd gone too far.

She was somewhat relieved to see Josh pay no attention to the damp spectacle. "Ok, I'm familiar with this thing now," he said. "Pass me my boots?"

Josh's boots were a solid-looking pair of hobnailed brown hiking boots. They seemed to be the only item of clothing he bothered to look after – unlike his scuffed Pokégear, faded jumper and fraying jacket, his boots were freshly cleaned and polished.

"These are quite heavy," she said, passing them over. Meowth took the opportunity to make a valiant bid for freedom. Without really thinking, Eve seized him and dragged him back in.

"They should be. They're reinforced toe to backstay with aron steel," he replied casually.

Eve flipped a sceptical double-take and realised that he wasn't joking. "Aron steel? Where on earth did you buy them?"

"I didn't. I made them. Well, with help. I was on holiday once, on Dewford Island. There's a craftsman there who makes aron steel the traditional way, almost the last to do so. Mostly he makes pocket knives and the like to sell to tourists. Anyway, one day I went in to buy a knife and we got talking. He ended up taking me on as apprentice for the week," he smiled fondly. "He was so happy to find a young person who was actually interested in learning from him."

"Hold on, hold on, back up! You _made_ aron steel? Like, shirt off and ringing hammer?"

"Well … yeah. It was hot in front of the forge," he replied, embarrassed.

The mental image of Josh stripped to the waist, hammering away at an anvil was so strange that Eve wanted to laugh. She forced herself not to; it would be cruel to make him think she was laughing at him.

"Hey, where's Magnemite gone?" she asked. Magnemite had been let out of its Poké Ball to be charged and had been behaving itself so far.

"Oh no," Josh said, "Magnemite! _Magnemite!_ Leave that bloody pikachu alone!"

Still in his socks, he awkwardly ran to try and haul his pokémon away from the spooked pikachu it was pestering. Eve really did laugh then – the struggling pair were the centre of attention, Josh cursing and threatening while Magnemite did its level best to get near the pikachu. _He'll be cuddling that metal ball later. _For all that they didn't see eye-to-eye, Eve could see they were beginning to develop an affection for each other.

_And what about you, Evelina Joy? _The last two days had been unexpectedly fun. Since leaving Cherrygrove City, Eve had been quite content to adventure on her own. She wasn't quite sure what she expected to happen when she invited Josh to the café, but it had turned out to have been one of her better ideas. He was good company. You might look at him and see only the bookish trainer, but beneath that was a woodsman, a steelsmith … full of odd surprises. Someone who went climbing down onix-burrows to get out of the rain was someone she wanted to get to know better.

Part of Eve wondered whether she should even be feeling this way. She'd only known Josh two short days, after all. They would soon be going their separate ways, probably for good. _Too soon. How long has it been since I last clicked with someone so well?_

"I just fed you, you overgrown ball bearing!" Josh had finally managed to restrain Magnemite in a bear hug. Red and blue bolts were crackling between the poles of Magnemite's magnets. Before she could shout a warning it blasted out a halo of coloured sparks which promptly earthed themselves on Josh's arms.

"OW! What was that for?" he said, sounding more hurt than angry.

"Congratulations, Josh," Eve called. "Your screwball learned Thunder Wave."

"I'm so very proud," he replied dryly.

Eve's smile didn't last long. _What do I do about this? _She forgot about scrubbing and automatically started scratching her pokémon behind the ears.

Meowth looked up, confused. [Something wrong, boss?]

"Just thinking, buddy. Just thinking."


	12. The Question

**Chapter Ten – The Question**

_**Evelina**_

"This official Gym battle between the challenger Evelina Joy of Cherrygrove City and the Gym Leader Bugsy of the Azalea Town Gym is about to commence! Each trainer will use three pokémon and only the challenger may make substitutions! A Hive Badge is at stake!"

_Ok, Eve. Mind in the battle now._ Late afternoon was turning to evening, and her shadow streamed out long and black, turned into a distorted giant by the setting sun. Ledyba – Lyra – had been unusually active near sunset these past few days when she'd normally be lethargic and sleepy. She wondered whether Bugsy would try and capitalise on the time of day by using a crepuscular or nocturnal pokémon … a venonat, maybe.

"And - begin!"

"Ok Miss Joy, let's see what you can do! Go, Beedrill!"

_Left jacket pocket, Poké Ball, not Fast Ball. Pokédex, back jeans pocket. _"Lyra! You have the honour!"

Lyra materialised in mid-air, jabbing with each of her little fists in turn. [C'mon, c'mon, I ain't scared of you, stripy!] she buzzed, eager as always.

Eve wasted no time in making the first move. "Mach Punch!" she ordered, and Lyra shot forward, crossing the field in less than a second. She landed a blow square between Beedrill's eyes and immediately whirled round to present her armoured back. Beedrill's retaliatory Twineedle scored a thin line across her carapace. Lyra spun, fists flying, but she just wasn't quick enough – Beedrill smoothly parried away the Comet Punches.

_Wrong pokémon. What was I thinking? _"Ledyba, good. Come back!" Eve said, and recalled Lyra. What she needed now was raw ferocity. _Right jacket pocket … I've got to get some belt clasps or something when all this is over._

"It's your turn Meowth!" she shouted. His claws glinted as he leapt yowling from his Poké Ball. Using Hone Claws as soon as he was released was a sneaky trick that Meowth had taught himself. Ragged whiskers held flat against his face, he shifted into his favourite pouncing position.

"Change your pokémon all you like, I'll still be ready for you," said Bugsy. "Go Beedrill, attack stance! All-out attack!"

With a piping buzz, Beedrill took to the air, hovering cautiously for a moment before diving on Meowth, tail stinger first. It had deliberately chosen to attack from vertical as it had with Bulbasaur, this time to make counter-attacks awkward to execute. Meowth stood his ground, waiting while the vicious stinger plummeted towards his neck until -

"Double Team!" Eve called. Beedrill stung only dirt, having impaled a shadowy copy that vanished as soon as it was struck. Suddenly it was surrounded by leaping, hissing, scratching cats. Charms and claws flashed in the chaos. Eve was irritated to see Beedrill patiently slash through the copies, winnowing away the fakes in an attempt to find the real Meowth.

The real Meowth slunk round behind his opponent, pounced and delivered a powerful Cut right across its thorax, ripping through a hind wing with a sound like tearing paper. Meowth landed, rolled, and used Double Team again to cover his escape.

"Fly, Beedrill," Bugsy ordered. "Find the real one, you can do it!"

Eve gave no orders of her own – she knew she could trust Meowth to press the attack. Bugsy's pokémon took to the air, Fury Cutting at the Double Team. Eve kept her eye on Meowth as he approached from below, waited, leapt with claws outstretched …

But Beedrill twisted its tail and stung Meowth hard, sending him thumping into the dirt. Josh let out a sympathetic groan of dismay. Meowth lay crumpled on the battlefield. _He's not hurt that badly._ The referee moved forward for a closer look, as did Beedrill. For a moment it might have looked as if it was all over, until Meowth suddenly raked Beedrill across the face.

"Beedrill!" Bugsy cried out as Meowth became an angry ball of howling fur and claws. Fury Swipes almost seemed too tame a name for the attack – Meowth scratched and slashed as fast as he possibly could. Buzzing in distress, Beedrill tried and failed to take flight. A faint yellowish-green glow played about its stingers.

"Quick! Twineedle attack!" Bugsy called. With some effort, his pokémon held off the furious meowth with one arm while drawing the other back. It thrust with its stinger as hard as it could, stabbing Meowth full in the chest, pitching him bouncing and skidding down the length of the field.

"No way!" Eve shouted in complete disbelief.

[Oof. I'm alright boss, just winded me,] Meowth wheezed, struggling painfully slowly to his feet.

The referee disagreed. "Meowth is unable to battle. Beedrill wins!" he declared with a flourish of the red flag. Eve bit back a curse as she recalled Meowth.

"It's not your fault," she told him through the Poké Ball. From the sidelines, Josh gave her an encouraging smile. Eve was damned if she was going to lose this battle in front of him. She selected what she hoped would be the right Ball, "You and me, we're in this together," she told it. "Pidgeotto! You have the honour!"

Pidgeotto burst from the Fast Ball like a comet, soaring over Eve's head as she re-materialised. It looked like Aunt Immey was right about Pidgeotto. After a few sparring matches during the afternoon she seemed to have picked up the concept of following orders in battle - something that might have a lot to do with her interacting with Meowth and Lyra. Or maybe it was talking to her through the Poké Ball that helped. _Oh well, here goes …_

"So, Pidgeotto is your new pokémon? Flying-type or no Flying-type, we're not backing down!" said Bugsy. "Use your Toxic Spikes Beedrill!"

Beedrill spun like a top, throwing out a cloud of what looked like purple caltrops that glistened suspiciously. Eve scanned the attack with her Pokédex.

"Toxic Spikes, a Poison-type attack. Classified as an entry hazard, Toxic Spikes inflict the Poison status on any enemy pokémon entering the field."

"Flying will only save you for so long. Once your pokémon touches the ground, the Toxic Spikes are activated," Bugsy continued. "So what do you do now, Miss Joy?"

An idea began to form in the back of Eve's mind. The Toxic Spikes were likely insurance against Lyra, but maybe she didn't have to worry about them ... she decided to let the idea sit and mature for a while."Pidgeotto! Finish it with one Tackle!"

Pidgeotto climbed sharply, rising up to the ceiling before rolling into a dive, just like she had when battling Lyra. Talons swung forward ready for impact -

"Use your Agility, then Twineedle!" Bugsy called. The duel happened so fast that Eve couldn't follow it. There was a nasty _crunch_ as Pidgeotto's talons thumped home, then suddenly Beedrill was lying unconscious on the dirt while Pidgeotto soared overhead, with a thin scratch on her flank. Bugsy seemed almost resigned to the defeat as he recalled Beedrill.

"Your Pidgeotto's fast," he said, smiling. "Lucky for me I have a pokémon who's just as fast. I choose you Yanma!"

Yanma was about the same size as Pidgeotto, with a certain prehistoric sleekness to its long, red body. Its four filmy wings beat in a complex forward-and-back pattern as it hovered in place, legs held up tight against its thorax. _It looks fragile … and the type match up is still lousy. Why use it at all? _Eve brought her Pokédex up just in case.

"Yanma, the Clear Wing Pokémon. Yanma has a 360-degree field of vision. It is a great flier that is adept at making sudden stops and turns."

_Ah-ha! That's why. Ok, I know how I'm gonna play this._

"Start this off with Silver Wind!" Bugsy ordered, taking the first move. Yanma loomed over Pidgeotto and beat its wings till they blurred. A cylinder of gusting winds and whirling silver-grey scales blasted down. Pidgeotto dodged to the right and Eve shouted for a Tackle. The Silver Wind fountained back off the dirt in a billowing cloud, filling the air with a silvery haze as Yanma chased Pidgeotto with its relentless attack. Swerving round the Silver Wind, Pidgeotto inverted and grabbed at Yanma with her talons, forcing it to break off the attack and dodge.

"Quick Attack!" Eve yelled.

"Quick Attack!" Bugsy countered.

Both pokémon attacked, and both missed because they were trying to attack and dodge at the same time. Silver Wind residue churned and billowed as the combatants dodged and swooped. Pidgeotto seemed to be steadily slowing while Yanma got faster and faster. Eve had to squint to make out Yanma whirl round and slam Pidgeotto with its abdomen. _Hold on, I can use that!_

"Pidgeotto, Sand Attack!"

Arcing round to put some distance between Yanma and herself, Pidgeotto hovered close to the ground, beating her powerful wings hard and throwing up dust from the dry battlefield. The ochre dust mingled with Yanma's Silver Wind, effectively blinding both Yanma and Bugsy.

"Now!" she ordered with a smile and a snap of her fingers. "Quick Attack!"

"Detect!"

"_What!_" Eve yelled. She could feel her cheeks flushing red with fury.

"Now use Light Screen!" Bugsy ordered, taking advantage of the lull. Hundreds of translucent yellow diamonds appeared around Yanma, slotting themselves together so that they formed a tessellated box before flashing briefly and disappearing. It was a clever move, one that would shut down any Gusts that Pidgeotto might try and leave her with no choice but to switch to Lyra. _Not sodding likely._

"Get up high for a Tackle!" she ordered, and Pidgeotto eagerly swept up towards the ceiling.

"That's a bad decision. As soon as you see Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!"

Pidgeotto reached the apex of her flight. Barely a foot of space lay between her and the ceiling, and she let out a long call as if to say 'I'm ready, give the order!'

Eve snapped her fingers, and smiled. That is, she showed her teeth. "Defog!"

Almost leisurely, Pidgeotto swept her wings down, washing the battlefield in a gentle but persistent breeze. Dust and silver-grey scales melted away at its touch, the hidden Toxic Spikes in the dirt were picked up and dissolved into nothing. Yanma's Light Screen flashed back into existence, the myriad diamond panes whirling away like confetti.

"Give it a Gust, the strongest Gust you have!" Eve ordered, not wanting to give Bugsy even a moment's respite. The Gust caught Yanma in its teeth and sent it spinning end over end towards the ground. Straining to right itself, Yanma's wings beat so hard they sent shock waves crashing into the dirt. Josh was shouting something, his voice drowned out by the sound of wind and wings.

"Hang in there, Yanma!" Bugsy shouted.

"Tackle, make it count!"

Down came Pidgeotto with her wings swept back, sleek and swift as she had been when Eve first saw her flying above the bistro. Yanma managed to regain control of its flight, but the momentary loss of concentration was all the chance Pidgeotto needed. With a wide barrel roll she intercepted Yanma mid-dodge and bore her opponent to the ground.

"Pidgeooo!" she cried, exhausted in victory. "Pidgeot-TOOO!"

As the referee formally announced the result, Bugsy called back his pokémon. He said something encouraging to it before he pocketed the Ball. Pidgeotto fluttered off to perch on a tree branch to catch her breath.

"As a Gym Leader it's my duty to push challengers hard. That's why I always save my best pokémon for last," Bugsy declared, "the Bug pokémon warrior - I choose you Scyther!"

The scyther that took to the field was everything a scyther should be - fierce, barbaric, intimidating. He stood proudly in front of his trainer and raised his scythes to the sky, shouting a challenge as he did so. The evening sun shone a harsh gold on the blades. But it was the eyes that were the truly frightening – sharp, intense eyes, eyes that looked at you first as an adversary.

Eve thought fast, and decided to keep on battling with Pidgeotto. For all the exertion of the battle so far, she hadn't yet taken much damage and she would need her speed to counter Scyther's inevitable physical strength. _Seize the initiative._

"Pidgeotto, Gust, nice and strong!" she ordered. Pidgeotto leapt from her perch and threw out a powerful Gust. Despite being half Scyther's size she managed to force him to lose his footing, the same strong muscles that powered her flight lending strength to the Gust. Apparently sensing that Pidgeotto could keep him pinned this way, Scyther took flight, darting rapidly under the cone of the Gust.

"Quick, but not quick enough," Eve said, snapping her fingers at Bugsy. "Quick Attack!"

"Oh, Scyther doesn't need to fly faster," Bugsy answered as Pidgeotto closed in. "Aerial Ace!"

Fierce eyes fixed on Pidgeotto, Scyther swept his blade down in a savage diagonal arc. At the last moment Pidgeotto swerved out of the way, but spinning through nearly 360 degrees Scyther turned lightning-fast, intercepting perfectly on the upswing. Pidgeotto screeched in pain and alarm, collapsing onto the battlefield with an undignified roll.

Eve gasped in shock – there was a long cut across Pidgeotto's chest that was beginning to bleed freely. She didn't wait for the referee's inevitable ruling, instead recalling Pidgeotto immediately. The Fast Ball would effectively halt the bleeding and accelerate Pidgeotto's natural healing. "You did great," she told her, "and I'm very proud."

Even so, how was it that Scyther knocked Pidgeotto out with one strike? Either Scyther was much stronger than she had originally suspected or … _Twineedle. That Twineedle must have poisoned Pidgeotto._ She drew Lyra's Poké Ball from her pocket. Adrenaline made her heart thump almost painfully against her chest. Pitting a ledyba against a healthy scyther was not the sort of position she wanted to be backed into, even with a ledyba as feisty as her Lyra.

"You're my last hope," she murmured to her through the Poké Ball. "Lyra! You have the honour!"

Lyra materialised punching at the air again, undaunted by the prospect of facing a scyther. [Let's do this, Eve! C'mon guy, I ain't scared of you! Whaaaat?] she taunted.

"That's a pretty nice ledyba you've got there, Miss Joy," said Bugsy. "No way she's faster than my Scyther. Quick Attack, now!"

Scyther pushed off the ground, holding his right blade out in front of him like a cavalryman's sabre.

"Reflect!" Eve ordered. A small hexagonal pane appeared in front of Lyra, translucent blue like tinted glass. Others appeared around it, rapidly locking themselves together until they formed a hexagonal shield big enough for Lyra to hide behind. She had barely finished constructing the Reflect when Scyther's blade crashed through it, shattering a couple of the hexes as it did so.

_If Scyther knows Brick Break it's all over. _"Mach Punch, then get out of there!" Eve called. Lyra promptly punched Scyther in the eye and curled away under the reach of his blades to make her escape.

"Chase her down with Pursuit!" Bugsy called. Scyther had lost sight of Lyra, but Pursuit gave him instinctive knowledge of where she was. With a twist of the body and a burst of speed from the wings, Scyther tackled Lyra hard. The attack seemed to startle Lyra badly – she spun and threw a volley of Comet Punches, striking at the head and the arm joints below the blade. Still smart, even when her Rattled ability activates, Eve thought proudly.

"Finish this with Aerial Ace!" Bugsy ordered confidently.

"Protect!" Eve countered. She couldn't afford to let even one Aerial Ace land. The attack screeched off the shimmering green Protect.

"You can't Protect forever! Fury Cutter!" Bugsy refused to give Eve any breathing space. Down the Fury Cutters rained, green afterimages whirling in the wake of flashing blades. Reflect hexagons smashed and flew, cracks and rents opened up everywhere on Lyra's carapace. She showed no mercy herself, punching and jabbing whenever Scyther left an opening to exploit, but Eve could see that it just wasn't going to be enough. The one saving grace was that every time Fury Cutter hit, it also activated Lyra's Rattled ability. Lyra kept getting faster, fast enough to break Scyther's hitting streak and stop Fury Cutter from building power.

[No quarter! No giving up! Take this!] Lyra yelled, and threw another Comet Punch volley. Scyther drew a blade back, ready for an attack. Too late Eve recognised what it was about to do.

"Protect!" she yelled desperately. _Nooo, too late! _Scyther's blade flashed twice, and Lyra was sent flying into the branches of a cypress. She slipped to the ground through the evergreen leaves.

[No giving up … we can win this Eve!] she insisted, wings buzzing as she made her way slowly into the air. Eve blinked back tears, mixed adrenaline and fury blotting out her thoughts.

[What the?]

There was a curious snapping, zapping sound, soft but strangely distinctive. And Lyra started to glow a pure white. _Evolution …_

Like most people, Eve had seen evolution before, watching pokémon battles on TV. Most people knew how it worked on at least a basic level – through caring for pokémon, Eve had picked up some knowledge of the complexities. But it was nothing compared to seeing it happen right before your eyes … the transformation was beautiful, wondrous. A pulse of light burst from Lyra's glowing silhouette. Her body began to change shape, becoming sleeker, more streamlined. Her third pair of arms migrated down and developed proper feet, her four remaining arms grew longer. Her wings grew larger and took on a swept delta shape.

The glow faded, and Lyra was no longer a ledyba, but a ledian.

[Yea-heh-heh-eeeah!] she exulted, [I have _evolved! _Hey, pointy!] she called down at Scyther standing on the field below. [Guess what?]

Lyra flicked her wings inward, and an invisible blade carved its way through the battlefield. Scyther cried out in surprise as he was knocked off his feet. Lyra just laughed and attacked again, chasing Scyther with her new move.

"Air Cutter, a Flying-type attack. Classified as a Special attack, Air Cutter has a propensity for dealing unusually high damage."

_Air Cutter … _Eve laughed along with her feisty, loyal ledian. _We might just win this after all._

"Get it together, Scyther!" Bugsy shouted. "Use Fury Cutter!"

"Reflect! You can do it Lyra!"

The two pokémon met in the middle of the battlefield, spurred on by the orders and encouragement of their trainers. Scyther chopped and cut with savage skill, smashing hexes out of Lyra's Reflect almost as fast as she could renew it. Whenever he tried an Aerial Ace, Lyra blocked it with Protect and struck back with new, strong fists. Possibly no other ledian had ever fought him half as hard as Lyra did, Eve thought as she watched Lyra blast an Air Cutter across Scyther at point-blank range.

Shaving more hexes off Lyra's Reflect as it did so, Scyther laid down a flurry of Fury Cutters into Lyra's left side. His right blade swung up to a ready position; both Lyra and Eve spotted what was coming at the same time. _Fury Cutter was a feint! Nice try, Scyther._

"Protect!" she shouted, and Scyther's blade scraped violently clear of the Protect-bubble, throwing his arm out and opening up his guard. Lyra wasted no time, spinning round and throwing Mach Punches with both of her right fists. There was a sharp _crack_, like a pistol shot, and Scyther let out a deafening shriek. His blade was badly cracked, a large chip missing where the force of the blow had smashed the edge away.

"Stop!" Bugsy shouted. "That's enough. I concede defeat."

"What?" Eve said. Then she spotted Scyther trying to cradle his injured arm. "Oh ..."

"Scyther, return. We'll get that blade fixed up soon," Bugsy ordered. He crossed over the field, smiling regretfully, while Eve's heart thudded with the adrenaline still running through her system.

"I don't need to tell you, of all challengers, that it would be irresponsible of me to have Scyther fight on with an injury like that. Congratulations, Miss Joy. You have a new ledian. And you have earned this," Bugsy said, holding out a bright new Hive Badge.

_Take it, you fool._ Eve took the Badge and squeezed it in her hand.

"Lyra! _Lyra!_ We did it, we won the Badge!" she wrapped her arms around her laughing pokémon, dancing a little victory-dance. She looked up at the sound of applause, and there was Josh, clapping and looking at her with – what? Was that admiration?

Eve raised her hand invitingly. Moments like this called for a high-five. And because life is never quite that neat, they almost missed.

* * *

They were the last two people to walk down Old Village high street that evening. A golden afternoon had given way to a warm evening as the sun set in splendour. Thousands of azalea blossoms, magenta, orange and white, nodded in the late breeze that twitched and tugged at bright little lamppost banners.

"The way you dealt with Yanma was incredible," Josh enthused as they ambled their way down the street. "I was starting to think nothing would work then you won in three moves! _And_ you got rid of Light Screen and Toxic Spikes in doing so! Clever tactics, Eve."

"You're sweet to say so, but I told you, I don't plan these moves," Eve replied, smiling a little sheepishly. In the aftermath of her Gym Battle, with the Hive Badge pinned temporarily to her jacket, she was as happy as she'd ever been. Right now even the imminent prospect of the Pokémon Centre - with an aunt and two teenage cousins in the full flowering of their bitchiness – even that couldn't annoy her. Still, there was a nagging voice in her head that she couldn't quite ignore, a voice that had been quietly chirping away all afternoon -

"We should celebrate our Badges," she said. "I say we split a bottle of red."

"A bottle of red!" Josh cried in mock outrage. "Eve, Azalea Town is no Longwater but it's still cider country."

"You can't celebrate with cider! Ok, ok, how about brandy? A nice slow evening in that pub we saw yesterday."

"I'll have to grab my maps then. I still don't really know where I'm going next … Violet City, maybe."

There it was. The moment Eve had been trying to put off all day. Had Josh forgotten what that meant? Did he care?

_Tell him you don't want to part ways!_

_I don't even know that he likes me all that much!_

_The guy just spent the best part of three days in your company. Take a sodding guess!_

"Eve? Something wrong?" Josh asked. Eve realised she'd stopped dead to have an argument with herself. Josh was looking at her with a kind of puzzled concern.

"Oh, erm, no!" she said reflexively. He didn't look convinced, head cocked to one side as if he was trying to see her from a different angle. _Are you twelve or twenty-three? Ask him!_

"Come with me!" Eve blurted.

"... what?"

_No going back now. _"Come with me," she repeated. "On my journey. Our journey. I've really enjoyed spending time with you and I don't want to leave."

"Yes."

"I mean it's ok if you don't want to but - what?"

"I don't want to leave either. I've really enjoyed your company, it's been … it's been. Er."

There was an awkward silence. Neither of them could quite look the other in the eye. A flock of pidgey went fluttering by, heading back to their roost for the evening.

"I feel like we should do something," Josh said tentatively.

"Handshake?" Eve suggested.

"Too formal."

"High five?"

"Clichéd."

"Um …"

"Oh, to hell with it," Josh said, and in one smooth movement pulled her into a hug. Eve squeezed him back, and made a contented little growling noise. She felt Josh breathe a long, relaxed sigh, swinging her from side to side a little before they broke apart.

Eve couldn't help but break the silence. "Come with me, the time is right! There's no better teeeam!" she sang at him.

"Shut up!" he laughed, giving her a playful shove.

"Arm in arm, we'll win the fight, it's always been our dreeeam!" she continued with exaggerated passion, slipping her arm round his.

Later, Eve would remember it as a perfect moment.


	13. Forging a Friendship

**Chapter Eleven – Forging a Friendship**

_**Joshua**_

From here the forest seemed to stretch on forever, nothing but mist-shrouded trees marching endlessly into the far distance. The southern side of the forest was dominated by oak and hornbeam, tough old branches frosted with a flush of young spring foliage. Further north, the conifers took over, pine and fir and the great redwoods of the Heartwood. The trees in those groves were the tallest in Johto; they towered up to three hundred feet tall, almost otherworldly clad in their misty cloaks.

Stood with Eve on the foredeck of the paddle-ferry, their new travel backpacks resting on the deck beside them, Josh mentally went over the route ahead one last time. They had decided to head for the Violet City Gym, in a circuitous sort of way, first taking the paddle-ferry from Longwater up the River Esk to Withy End. At Withy End, the Esk was joined by the Withywindle flowing down out of the otherworldly Heartwood. Through the Heartwood, round the Lake of Life Reserve and on through the Ilex Forest to Len Town, following trainer's trails along the way – Josh had chosen that path himself, and Eve had cheerfully accepted it.

The ferry paddled on at her gentle pace, as patient and unhurried as the river itself. She was a quaintly handsome vessel, not so much a ferry as a floating bed and breakfast. Eighteen cabins, a dining room-slash-bar and a tiny shower block were crammed aboard, along with the open foredeck at the bow. It seemed that in defiance of the modern age, steam driven paddle-ferries like this were still one of the easiest and cheapest ways for people to travel in this part of the world.

In many ways, sailing on the Esk was like travelling back in time a hundred years. The river meandered right through the middle of Eskershire; almost every town and village along its banks had a quay or landing stage of some sort to accommodate river traffic. The shire was what Josh liked to think of as 'patchwork quilt country', that part of rural Johto characterised by the distinctive patchwork of fields divided by hawthorn hedges. They had boarded the ferry with a few other trainers at Longwater two days ago, killing time with battling, training, and in Josh's case, studying battle theory. Once or twice Josh teamed up with Eve to fight a double battle – in the evening, they talked about nothing much, forging their friendship one conversation at a time.

Inevitably, last night they ended up having their first fight.

* * *

It was a clear, chilly night, tinted yellow by the soft glow of the ferry's lamps. The deck along the sides of the boat was a narrow strip hardly more than three feet wide, hemmed in by the cabins on one side and the river on the other. The captain – a kindly old soul with a beard you could lose a furret in – had decided on the spur of the moment to treat his passengers to a barbecue on the foredeck. Josh nodded to a few of the other trainers as he made his way to Eve's cabin near the stern. She would enjoy this, no doubt – Josh hadn't met anyone who could demolish a burger half as quickly as Eve could.

"Hey Eve, it's me!" he called loudly, with a firm knock for good measure. A muffled curse came from inside, followed by some hurried clothy noises and what sounded like the whirr of a zipper. Eve wrenched the door open a moment later.

"What?" she said shortly. She had her long-sleeved black polo shirt on, and her cheeks looked rather flushed.

"Er, the captain's got a barbecue going and since you haven't had any dinner yet … I can come back," he said. Eve gave him a glazed look, like she was thinking about something else entirely.

"No. No, I'd rather hang out anyway," she said eventually. "Give me a minute to get dressed."

"I'll be on deck," Josh said, and headed back to the foredeck. He assembled a burger for her while he waited. _Mustard, she likes a lot of mustard._

Eve managed a smile and mumbled thanks when she joined him a few minutes later. She'd exchanged her burgundy coat for a sleeveless jacket, forest green with vertical rows of three Poké Ball clasps on either side of the chest. The green matched her brown trousers but clashed absurdly with her pink hair.

"Looking good Eve," Josh lied. "The jacket suits you."

"Thanks. It's a gilet," she corrected with her trademark wink. Food seems to have improved her mood, Josh thought as they fell to their usual aimless chatting. That, and the captain's apparently endless repertoire of tall tales.

"... This is what he said, no word of a lie, 'Ladies and gentlemen. I fear the boat is sinking. Would there be anyone among you skilled in prayer?'

The passengers nodded sagely to themselves, aye, prayer's just the thing at a time like this. Anyhow, up steps a young clergyman, and he says, 'Yes captain, I have some small skill in prayer.'

And the captain replies – no word of a lie, I was right there – 'Excellent! You just stand there and pray, while I hand round the life vests. We're one short!'"

A scattered ripple of laughter went round the deck. "Oh, by the way," Josh said to Eve, "if there's a Pokémon Centre at Arborville I'll need to visit the library," he sighed heavily. "I wish these books weren't so damn heavy. I could carry more of them on the road then."

"Will you quit studying theory so hard and relax? Why don't you just get a Pokédex if the books are too heavy?" Eve said flippantly.

"Easy for _you_ to say."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It's supposed to mean that it's easy for you to 'just get a Pokédex'," Josh replied sharply. The scowl forming on Eve's face was getting on his nerves. "Do you think that running parcels from the back of a bike pays well? I didn't have the privilege of Pokémon Centre wages."

"So it was easy for me was it?" Eve demanded, fury edging her voice.

"Easier than trying to stay employed in Mulberry Town? Yes, I should think so!" Josh retorted. People were beginning to notice the raised voices. Josh ignored them. He wasn't going to put up with a slight like this, not from Eve.

"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you couldn't find better work? You, an intelligent guy? Bollocks. You just weren't trying hard enough!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying! Not that _you'd_ have any idea what it's like to actually compete for a job, Evelina Joy!You have a high-status job waiting for you whenever you want it!" Eve opened her mouth to shout back but he cut her off. "And I can do without your condescension – don't you dare call me indolent you middle-class snob!"

Eve looked as though she'd very much like to hit him, her fists clenched, the shadow of a snarl on her face. One of her canines glinted fiercely. _Bring it on Joy, I'll damn well bite you back._

Eve growled her fury at him and stormed off back to her cabin, leaving a hush in her wake. The sidelong looks and sotto voce commentaries of the other passengers drove Josh to the empty scrap of deck space at the bow. He leaned against the rail, looking out onto the ink-dark river, ignoring the rising conversation behind him. _How dare she! How could she?_

The biggest shock of Josh's life had been learning that, in Mulberry Town at least, being employed had little to do with merit. All of his certificates of education, his baccalaureate in Modern Kalosian … ironically they had turned out to be a liability rather than an asset. Nobody wanted a fresh-faced clerk when there were any number of experienced administrators competing for the same work. Shops and bars turned him away just the same, under the bizarre assumption that he was too intelligent for the job. _Maybe if I bashed my head on this rail hard enough I can become stupid enough to be employable._

So he'd got by with sporadic courier work, dodging rush hour traffic on his bike. Until the day he'd had enough, and poured all of his Metal Earth profits into pokémon training.

Obviously Eve didn't understand this any more than Dad did. She was a Joy from thriving, bright, Cherrygrove City; her name had a history of honour and respect. He was an overqualified Cook from post-industrial Mulberry Town; his name meant nothing at all.

"She really pushed your buttons, eh Cook?" the captain said, joining him at the bow.

"You could say that."

"Beer was made for times like this. On me, son," the captain said, pressing a lukewarm can into Josh's hands. "You know, I've been sailing up and down this river since I was your age. Seen, oh, must be hundreds of couples in that time -"

"We're not a couple," Josh interjected.

"Couple o'friends," he replied, not missing a beat. "Couple of inseparable friends. My wife, God rest her soul, she always knew which of the hundreds of couples would stay together."

"Thank you for your concern, captain," Josh said stiffly. "But -"

"You can take old Hoster's advice or you can leave it, son. But you'd be wise to kiss and make up, shake hands, whatever. A fight like that's not worth feeling awful about."

Captain Hoster left him there at the bow, sipping the warm beer and staring at the river. In their twos and threes the other passengers drifted back to their cabins. The red heat of his anger drained away, leaving behind a horrible resentful sadness. He found himself listening for footsteps on the foredeck behind him.

When they did come, they were surprisingly quiet.

"Josh, I'm sorry," Eve muttered. She looked the way he felt – resentful and sad.

"... I'm sorry too," he said. There was a lump in his throat. "What I said wasn't fair. I'm sorry."

They stared at each other's eyes for a long moment, each unsure what to say to the other. Eventually, Eve drew something out of her pocket.

"I had this made for you in Azalea. A little thank you for giving me a great idea. Meant to give it you earlier, but I kind of forgot ..." she opened her hand. A reduced Poké Ball lay in her palm, its upper hemisphere pink rather than red.

"A Love Ball?" Josh said.

"Don't read into it."

"So you don't like me?" Josh joked.

"If I didn't like you, I wouldn't want to travel with you," Eve said in a tight little voice. For the first time since he had met her, Eve sounded almost … vulnerable.

"Friends?" she asked.

"Friends."

* * *

It was past noon by the time they reached their last stop at Withy End. The village was perched at the junction of the River Esk and its tributary, the Withywindle. Most of the village was on the right hand side of the Withywindle, along with the red brick landing stage. Weeping willows dipped their long, tendrilly branches into the water, overhanging the landing stage like huge umbrellas. Eve insisted on taking a photo once they'd disembarked, perhaps trying a bit too hard to be friendly after the last night's argument. The photo showed them side by side, Josh with his arm around Eve's shoulders, dappled by spots of sunlight that found their way through the willowy canopy.

It was about a fifteen mile walk to the next town – Arborville, by the Arbor Falls where the Withywindle flowed down out of the Heartwoods over a cliff. They followed the path on the right hand side of the river, walking by orchards for the first six miles or so. After that, it was thick woodland both left and right.

The afternoon's walk was an undemanding one, despite the new weight of their backpacks. They strolled along at an easy pace, taking long breaks to exercise their pokémon. Pidgeotto now liked Eve enough to fly to her wrist on command. Eve cemented their bond by christening her Gail. "Because her Gusts are so strong," she declared.

Late in the afternoon Josh happened upon a troupe of five bellossom in a ferny glade. Captivated, he'd watched them dance until a sixth bellossom appeared at his feet and challenged him to battle in its high, sweet voice. It was taller than the others, the rafflesia blooms on its head a deep, lusty red. Curiously, this bellossom wielded Leaf Blade like a sabre fencer, dipping a graceful curtsey before drawing its Leaf Blade. The sight of it had melted Josh's heart into a warm puddle, it was so unbearably cute.

As it turned out, catching Bellossom was much easier said than done. The first Poké Ball Josh threw was rent into two ragged, sparking halves by Bellossom's Leaf Blade. His second throw overshot by a good foot, bounced off a rock hidden somewhere in the undergrowth, and struck one of the five still-dancing bellossom in the back of the head, swiftly enveloping it with a flash of red. The Ball hardly rattled before bursting open again. Josh found himself being driven off with a storm of razor-edged Petal Dance; apparently the other bellossom decided to interpret his mis-throw as a sneak attack.

The woods rose steadily up as they drew closer to the high conifers and stately redwoods of Arborville. A fine day gave way to cloudy evening twilight; beneath the towering trees it was like walking through a gloomy, roofless hall. Cloudy skies brought on an early sunset, the world fading to dark shades of shadow grey. Josh noticed that Eve started walking closer to him, and he was glad that she did.

Nightfall was not far away when Josh stepped off the path to pee. The spaces between the tree boles felt uncomfortably wide. Josh squared up to a handy pine and unzipped, resolving to finish this task as soon as possible – he didn't much like turning his back on the woods. He couldn't help glancing around cautiously, irrational though it was. Both Bulbasaur and Screwball were within easy reach at his belt, after all. A light spring rain had been falling off and on for the past hour.

"Are you finished yet? Let's go, I don't want to stand around in the rain!" Eve called from the path.

"Don't talk to me, I cannot go if you talk to me!" Josh shouted over his shoulder.

Thunder boomed, and the heavens opened up, cold rain sheeting down like it was personal. Both Josh and Eve let out cries of wordless dismay. Hurriedly stowing himself away, Josh experienced a brief second of pure panic as something got caught. He ran back to the path muttering imprecations against the capriciousness of zips.

"We'll get soaked!" Eve yelled, trying to shelter under a tree. "Quick, under a tree!"

"Won't work! Not enough cover from these pines!" Josh countered.

"What do you suggest then, clever clogs?"

"We should be about half a mile from Arborville! Let's make a break for it!"

"Aaagh, alright!" Eve ran off along the path, Josh chasing close behind. They splashed noisily through rapidly-forming puddles on the gravel path. In the gathering dark, left and right were beginning to look the same, but for where the beam of Eve's torch illuminated the silvery curtain of hammering rain. Josh's jacket and jeans were already wet through.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" Josh roared.

Raindrops were clustering thickly on the lenses of Josh's glasses, turning his vision into a confused blur. It occurred to him that at this rate he could very likely end up running full pelt into the Withywindle and not know it till he fell in. "Eve! Eve!" he called. "Eve, slow down, I can't see!"

"Oh for God's sake," Eve said, grabbing his hand. "Come on!"

They awkwardly ran hand in hand down the last furlong, Eve towing Josh along behind her. Blurrily, Josh got the impression of monolithically tall trees, those stately giants that he had seen far off from the deck of the ferry. Lights spilling from the windows of the town refracted through the raindrops on his glasses – if he looked over the top of them he could just make out the heights of the Arbor Falls, the hundred-foot falls rendered unremarkable by the indistinct arboreal giants nearby.

Eve stopped with an abrupt splash. "Where the hell is the Pokémon Centre?" she yelled, looking round in every direction. "This way!"

She grabbed Josh by the hand again and dragged him into a nearby building. Light and warmth doused him, and as he huffed down air to recover from the mad run, he realised that Eve had pulled him into an inn rather than the Pokémon Centre. They looked at each other, each soaked through, Josh half-blind, Eve's hair hanging limply, and simultaneously started giggling breathlessly. Eve gently removed Josh's glasses. Josh couldn't help but wince – he didn't like people touching his glasses without asking.

Eve seemed to pick up on this. "Everything ok?" she asked.

"Fine, fine," Josh replied. For some reason, he felt that Eve should be an exception. She carefully wiped them clear of water and set them back on his nose. "Thank you," he said, feeling a little taken aback.

The inn's lobby had a homely, traditional look to it, old wood panelled walls and flagstone floor offset by the obviously modern reception desk. The receptionist behind the desk was a middle-aged woman, wearing a sensible cardigan and a welcoming smile.

"Good evening. Are you looking for somewhere to stay this evening?" she said. "The Pokémon Centre is a good thirty minute walk from here," she added cunningly.

"Shall we just stay here for the night?" Eve said immediately. _Almost too quickly. Maybe she doesn't want to deal with her relatives._

"If you like," Josh said. There was a flicker of relief in his friend's eyes.

"Would that be singles, or a double?" the receptionist asked.

"Double," Eve said.

"Eve!" Josh snapped.

"Singles," Eve corrected, giggling. Despite himself, Josh laughed along with her.

* * *

Sat cross-legged at the head of the bed, Josh took a sip of hot chocolate. It had been Eve's idea, and a rather good one at that. After a shower and a change into his pyjamas, Eve had turned up at his door with a mug in each hand. She was laid back on the bed beside him, clad in a blue hoodie dress that served as nightwear, scrolling through the menu of her Pokédex.

"Bellossom, the Flower Pokémon. When these pokémon move, their petals rub together, creating a pleasant ringing sound."

"Carry on?" Eve asked.

"Mmhm."

"Johto's largest population of bellossom inhabit the Ilex Forest area, ranging from the Lake of Life through the majority of the Heartwood. Concentrations of Sun Stone within the topsoil of this area support this high rate of evolution, the highest rate of natural bellossom evolution outside of the Hoenn region. Unusually for their species, the bellossom troupes of the Ilex Forest area tend to be aggressive in their usage of Leaf Blade. Individuals have been known to wield their Leaf Blades in a manner similar to the style of nineteenth-century sabre fencers. How such distinctly human behaviour could be learned and passed down across generations of bellossom is not yet fully understood, but it is thought that like many anthropomorphic pokémon, bellossom mimic useful behaviours they observe in humans."

Eve carried on idly scrolling through her Pokédex while Josh quietly finished his hot chocolate. The downpour lashed against the windows, now a cosy reminder that they were both warm and dry for the night. _Ok, let's recap. There's a girl lying next to me wearing mostly a hoodie. I'm in my pyjamas, and this is, for all intents and purposes, my bed. By rights I should be feeling nervous, and yet I'm not._

It had only been a week since their chance meeting in Azalea Town, and yet Josh felt as though he had known Eve for much longer. Maybe it was the length of time they had spent together so far – after all, there hadn't been a lot of moments during that week where they had been apart. Truth be told Josh more than liked Eve as a person, he admired the way she dealt with life. She seemed to have a complete disregard for expectations others had of her; Eve did exactly as she pleased and was happy doing it.

Eve shut her Pokédex with a click. The silvery, liquid rattle of the rain was the loudest sound in the room.

"Hey, Josh," Eve said. Josh looked down at Eve lying beside him. She looked back up at him with a serious, slightly sad expression.

"About last night … we're ok, aren't we?" she said.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course."

Eve was quiet for a moment. She wouldn't look at him, instead looking down at her own hands. "It's just … look, I know that some things are easier for me. You're right, I have a job waiting for whenever I want it," Eve sighed and fiddled with her hoodie. "Being a Joy means everyone thinks your choices are _their _business. All I want is to be my own woman, make my own choices, for _me_. Maybe someday I will go to nursing college and take my place in a Pokémon Centre. But I _won't_ do it to be a dutiful daughter!"

Eve looked back up at Josh, a complicated look on her face – partly sad, partly fierce, and partly something else entirely. "I took it out on you last night, and I'm sorry," she said.

"Eve … I really am sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you the way I did."

"So we're really ok?"

"I don't want to fight," Josh said emphatically. "Forgive me?"

"Forgiven," Eve smiled. "Are we ok enough for a hug?"

"Come here, you."

Eve scrambled into a sitting position and slipped her arms around his middle. She had a forceful way of hugging him, squeezing rather than just holding. Josh folded his arms around her back.

"From now on, let's just say how we feel," Eve murmured, without breaking away.

"Deal. I don't want to fight again."

"You promise?"

"I promise."


	14. Heart of the Heartwoods

**Chapter Twelve – Heart of the Heartwoods**

_**Joshua**_

Majestic in their immensity, the redwoods of Arborville rose up like pillars of the world. Cloaked in the early morning mist, tall and strong and silent, one could almost believe that the trees somehow had a consciousness of their own.

_Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold …_

The fragment of poetry came back to him as he stood out on the balcony, clutching a mug of caustic coffee, enjoying the moment of unalloyed peace. Pale and cold, the forest had a washed-out, desaturated quality to it; wheeling sunbeams lanced down through the treetops high above, lending the mists a soft, ethereal glow.

Really, it was a privilege to be here.

From his perch on the narrow balcony, Josh had a panoramic view of the town. Most of the homes were treehouses, cosy little bungalows built up near the branches of a redwood. About a third of the town – the Low Village – was situated close to the banks of the Withywindle at the bottom of the Arbor Falls. The High Village lay at the top of the cliff, looking down upon the Low Village from dizzying heights.

Josh took a sip of his dark, sweet coffee – a second mug stood steaming on the balustrade. Behind him, floorboards creaked gently as Eve padded out to join him on the balcony. Her hair was still damp from the shower, and she shivered a little even though she was fully dressed. Wordlessly, Josh handed over the second mug. Eve drank her coffee in long draughts, heedless of the heat.

"It's a beautiful morning," Eve said after a while.

"Yeah," Josh replied. "Where did you say the Poké Mart is?"

"In the Pokémon Centre," Eve sighed. "Pokémon Clinic, technically."

"What's the difference?"

"Size," Eve said glumly. She took a gulp of coffee and huffed ruefully.

"Want me to go in? I can get your things as well as mine."

"Would you mind?"

"It's ok. Being a Joy isn't easy, right?" Josh said. Eve gave him a small smile.

"Anyway," Josh added, "if I'm going to the Poké Mart, _you're _getting the groceries."

* * *

Arborville's idiosyncratic architecture extended even to the Pokémon Clinic, which was a full-blown treehouse in the High Village. In all other respects, though, the Clinic resembled a scaled-down Pokémon Centre. Most of the floorspace was taken up by the common room, with the semi-circular reception desk directly in front of the door. Off to the right, two blue shelving units partitioned off the Poké Mart from the rest of the Clinic.

"Good morning! Welcome to our Pokémon Clinic," Joy said. She wore a different uniform to her peers, without the usual white apron and cap. Instead she wore a sleeveless pink dress, with a white armband around her bicep. It occurred to Josh that the teenage Joys at the Azalea Pokémon Centre wore an armband over casual clothes, rather than the full uniform.

"Hi. My magnemite just needs charging," Josh said.

"We can do that for you! May I see your Trainer Card?"

As Josh handed over his Trainer Card it occurred to him that the Joys weren't quite identical. There were differences in each of them, if you looked for them. This Joy had a paler complexion and slightly frizzy hair compared to her relatives in Azalea Town. Eve had a rather willowy figure – although, Josh realised, the uniform didn't give much away in that respect. Every Joy wore the same uniform, the same hairstyle, adopted the same calm, competent public persona. No wonder you'd think them identical at first glance.

"That's all ok Joshua. Is there any-anything else I can help you with?" Joy said, stumbling over her words.

"No, thank you," Josh said. "I'll just be in the Poké Mart."

There were differences in their mannerisms too, Josh thought as he picked out medicines. All Joys had blue eyes, but Eve … Eve's were special. It wasn't so much the way she could nail you to the spot when she was in a mood – she'd given that look to her cousins in the Pokémon Centre – but the way she looked at him in Azalea Town after her Gym Battle -

"Joshua?" Joy called, appearing from behind the shelves. "Y-You have a phone call."

_Who the hell would call me here? _Joy led him round into the common room. There was a row of video phones across the back wall. One was live, the video screen showing a Joy in full uniform. Josh sat down, wondering what this was all about.

"Good morning, Joshua! So nice to finally meet you," she said in that warm, melted-butter voice the Joys so often used.

"I don't believe we've been introduced, Nurse Joy," Josh said diplomatically.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Gabriella Joy. Evelina's mother. A little pidgey tells me that you're my daughter's new travel companion," she added playfully.

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs Joy. And yes, we are friends."

"Oh please, call me Gabriella! No need to be so formal," Gabriella said, smiling warmly. Typically for a Joy, she seemed to have aged well - a few thin lines around her eyes and mouth marked her seniority. "I like to get to know Evelina's friends when I can."

_I'll bet you do._ Josh came from a large extended family. The Cook clan often feuded amongst themselves, apparently just to give themselves something to do at family gatherings. Josh was beginning to suspect that Gabriella was playing Feud, and trying to pull him into it. Eve hadn't said much about her mother – Josh doubted they were on great terms. _What do you want, Gabriella Joy?_

Out loud he said, "Well, I'm a trainer from Mulberry Town, and I have one Badge so far. Eve and I met by chance at the Azalea Gym. She's good company."

"Evelina's become quite a young woman," Gabriella said. "Enough to make your girlfriend jealous, huh?"

Josh decided that he was fed-up with this game. "Does Eve know you're talking to me?" he demanded.

The smile froze on Gabriella's face. "That's an odd question to ask, don't you think?" she said jovially.

"She doesn't, does she?" Josh insisted. "Why did you call me, Mrs Joy?"

This time her smile disappeared entirely. "I told you once already. I wanted to get the measure of this Mulberry Town lad who has been hanging around my daughter," Gabriella said. Her Cherrygrove accent was beginning to slip out. "And to let him know that the Joys look after their own."

"Just what are you suggesting?" Josh said coldly. He didn't much like the implications in those remarks.

"That you'd better behave yourself," Gabriella replied. The butter in her tone had gone, replaced with a superiority that just made Josh angrier.

"Would you be telling me this if I was called Sebastian from Ecruteak City? No, don't answer that," Josh said, putting some iron into his voice. "You're a mother, and you don't know me, so I'll overlook that insult."

"You'll _overlook_ it? I suggest you keep a civil tongue in your head, or else -"

"_I don't answer to you._"

They stared angrily at each other through the video screen. Gabriella was giving him the same sapphire-edged glare as Eve did when she was angry. _Look, she's even gone a bit red in the cheeks like Eve, too,_ the observant part of his brain remarked.

"Eve will be as safe with me as she would be with her own dad. On my word of honour. Even Mulberry Town lads have honour," he added sourly. Gabriella said nothing, looking at him like she intended to burn him alive with the force of her glare. Josh kept his face as still as he could. Out of sight of the video phone's camera he compulsively drummed his fingers against his knee.

"People think that because nurses are everywhere that we're invisible. And that we don't have eyes and ears," Gabriella said slowly. "If you betray my trust I'll know."

"Duly noted," Josh snapped, abruptly stabbing at the call end button and hanging up before Gabriella could reply. For a moment Josh wondered whether it was wise to try and make her more angry. He didn't care – he was in no mood to be given orders by anyone, least of all Gabriella Joy.

* * *

It was hard to stay angry, walking through the Heartwoods with Eve. The forest that had felt so uncomfortably wide and gloomy last night now had a stately beauty to it. The air was bright and clear with a pleasantly earthy smell. The trainer's trail was little more than a forest path marked with wayposts every mile or so, following the course of the Withywindle. Once the trail passed close to the boundary of Lake of Life Reserve – legend had it the lake water had mystical life-giving powers. Josh doubted there was anything more than a grain of truth to the legend, but it was definitely true that the undergrowth was a lot lusher than he'd expected. All sorts of bushes and ferns – even the odd young tree – somehow managed to thrive in between the giants. Pokémon were in abundance too - Bug-types of all kinds, furret scampering up the trees, clouds of jumpluff floating through the canopy.

Eve was apparently in a playful mood. Her aimless chattering made him laugh despite his bad temper. At one point she punched him on the arm in retaliation for a snide remark – without really thinking Josh punched her back, and started a war that ended with sore arms for them both.

Late in the afternoon they came to a place where the trail was crossed by a muddy banked stream. The stream was only about a couple of feet wide, but somebody had built a wooden bridge across it anyway. And it was guarded by a knight.

There was no other word for it. He – presumably it was a he – stood at the near side of the span, statue-still. He wore a hauberk of bright mail beneath a black surcoat blazoned with a heraldic grumpig. The greathelm on his head completely obscured his face, with nothing but a narrow letter-box slit to see through. Josh shot Eve a quizzical look; the knight had made no indication that he'd seen them as they approached. She just shrugged, smirking.

"'scuse me, feller," Josh said awkwardly, moving to step round him.

"None shall pass!" the knight suddenly boomed.

"What?"

"None shall pass!"

"Why?"

This seemed to flummox the knight. "Because … because I am sworn to defend this bridge against all pokémon trainers!"

"Oh come on!" Josh said. "I could just walk across that stream!"

"Then you'll get muddy won't you," the knight said unsympathetically. The hollow greathelm made his voice echo. Josh gave him a cold stare. The helmet stared back impassively.

"Are you _really_ a knight?" Josh said.

"My arms! Look!" his voice turned petulant and he pointed irritably at his surcoat. "My heraldry! See? I am Sir William the Black, and no man shall pass me!"

"What about women?" Eve piped up.

William appeared to notice Eve for the first time. "My lady!" he cried, dropping to one knee with a jingle of mail. To Josh's annoyance, he rather theatrically took her hand. "What manner of ill-fortune has led you to travel these lands, guarded only by a base cur?"

"A what?" Eve said.

"Oi!" Josh protested.

William ignored him. "A lady so fair should have a knight for her praetorian," he said softly. The effect was rather spoiled by the tinny echo from his greathelm. Without waiting for an answer he leapt to his feet and squared up to Josh.

"You!" he barked. "Guard yourself, peasant, and face me in honourable battle!"

* * *

Josh faced Sir William across the clearing, and wondered why he was playing along with this. Their chosen battlefield was on the near side of the bridge, at William's insistence, the stream trickling away to their left. The forest floor was carpeted with a deep, springy layer of leaf litter – the light alternately brightened and faded as clouds passed over the sun.

William unsnapped a Great Ball from his belt. "For the honour of the lady and for the passage of the bridge, I, Sir William the Black, of the noble line of Fairfax, challenge you to combat!" he declared. "Come forth, Caerbannog!"

Caerbannog was a large, spiny, rabbit-like pokémon, livid purple with a savage horn protruding from his forehead. _Nidorino. Poison-type. An aggressive species. Hmm …_

"I, Joshua, of the lowly line of Cook, who built this Johto from smoke and iron, accept your challenge. Bulbasaur, battle's on!"

Bulbasaur pawed the ground and gave a nervous bark. Josh could see why – Caerbannog had fixed him with a ferocious look, snapping his fangs with a kind of methodical menace.

"Don't let him intimidate you, Bulbasaur!" Josh called encouragingly. "There's power beneath your scales!"

[If you say so! I trust you Josh.]

_Ok, so, tactics. We can use the sun – wait a minute. I understood that!_

"I understood that," Josh breathed. He laughed joyously as the implications of it sunk in. It had finally happened! Just like Eve had said, Josh _heard _nothing but the usual 'bulba-bulbasaur' – but his mind understood the meaning as easily as if Bulbasaur had been speaking English.

The sun came out, and Josh laughed again. "Alright! Start off with Growth!"

"Charge, Caerbannog! Horn Attack, full tilt!" William boomed. Bulbasaur flinched at the sight of Caerbannog's powerful legs propelling him forward into a thudding charge. His bulb glowed brighter and brighter as he drew power from the sun.

"Trip it up," Josh ordered hastily. Bulbasaur's vines whipped out and he sharply smacked Caerbannog on the ankles, causing him to stumble for a few paces before losing his footing completely. Josh breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't had time to think that order through. _What would Eve do now?_

"Tackle."

Trailing yellow sun-motes, Bulbasaur counter-charged hard. Caerbannog gave a wheezy bellow as Bulbasaur knocked the air from his lungs, almost drowning out Sir William's complaints about unchivalrous tactics.

"Fury Attack!" he yelled tinnily. Caerbannog turned and drove Bulbasaur back with a flurry of attacks, primarily stabbing with his horn, throwing the occasional kick to keep Bulbasaur confused and off-balance. _Come on, think of a counter! What have you read about nidorino? _

[Back off, you!] Bulbasaur barked, and fired a Leech Seed at Caerbannog's face. The nidorino had to hop awkwardly to one side to dodge it, then rear up on his hind legs to avoid a follow-up shot. Bulbasaur seized his chance to create some space between Caerbannog and himself.

"Well done, Bulbasaur," Josh called. _Get it together, man! _Their pokémon circled each other warily. William seemed to like battling up close with his nidorino – Josh wondered whether it was capable of attacking at all from a distance. "Keep your distance Bulbasaur, and be patient," he ordered. _They'll have to make a mistake sooner or later._

Caerbannog was growling something at Bulbasaur as they circled one another. [Hey, shut up,] Bulbasaur replied contemptuously. [You know nothing about him.]

Caerbannog bellowed in fury and charged again. _Sooner rather than later. _"Trip it!" Josh immediately ordered. Bulbasaur scythed at his opponent's legs, but Caerbannog simply leapt straight over the vines with one bound.

"Oh damnit!"

[Oh damnit!]

There was no way Bulbasaur could dodge in time. Hit head-on, Bulbasaur was thrown across the field like a football, where he collided heavily with a tree.

"Bulbasaur!" Josh shouted. "Are you alright?"

[I'm -] Bulbasaur started. Something plopped onto the leaf litter beside him, followed by another, and another, and another. There were five in total, like rather large pine cones covered with bark and bits of forest detritus.

"Pineco!" one of them announced. On cue, all five started to glow. _Self-Destruct. _Five_ Self-Destructs, right next to Bulbasaur. _Josh's blood ran cold. He was dimly aware of Eve and William running for cover, but all _he_ could think about was bringing Bulbasaur's Poké Ball up as fast as he possibly could -

\- the next thing he knew, the scenery was whirling around him and there was a sudden sense of weightlessness. Dust and shredded leaf litter blasted by, and he landed heavily. He couldn't remember hearing the explosion, but he must have done because his ears were ringing. Josh instinctively clutched the Poké Ball hard to his heart.

Eve was pulling him to his feet. "Is he alright? Josh, is he alright?" she said gently.

_There was a recall beam. I saw the recall beam! _"He's alright. He's alright," Josh managed. His breathing was ragged and shallow. _I saw the recall beam. I was fast enough. He's alright. He's alright. _The pineco smoked innocently next to their tree while the nearby stream babbled in its muddy bed.

"You forfeit the battle," Sir William declared. Josh looked at him blankly.

"What?" he said.

"By recalling your pokémon, you forfeit the battle," William repeated. "Victory is mine, peasant. I win the bridge and the lady both."

Eve spun around and gave William a firm two-handed shove, pitching him into the stream. The knight impacted with an ignominious splat.

"I can't be won, _Sir_," Eve called down at him. "I don't care what you've won, I've chosen Josh, so deal with it! Oh, and learn to show some compassion, you jerk!" she added as an afterthought.

Josh smiled weakly, fumbling at his belt as he tried to clip Bulbasaur's Poké Ball back onto it. His hands didn't seem to work properly, and he dropped the Ball into the leaf litter. Eve picked it up, reducing it with a quick tap on the button. Before he could thank her she put her arms around him.

"Hey," she said gently. "It's alright. I'll check Bulbasaur out, he'll be fine." There was something reassuring about that voice, and in the forceful way she held him ... Josh felt his breathing slow down and match Eve's own.

"Feel better?" she said. Her voice was like melted butter.

"Yeah. Yeah, I feel better. Thank you, Eve."

"You're welcome, Josh."

* * *

They camped by the Withywindle that night. They weren't far from the north-eastern border of the Heartwoods now, with the majority of the redwood forest behind them. Their campsite was just at the edge of a little meadow surrounded by more familiar hazels, alders and willows by the river. Further east, there was a Pokémon Centre where the Heartwoods met the Deepwoods.

Next morning dawned pale and cold again. Josh was the first awake, and he'd set to building a fire to drive off the chill. His pokémon didn't seem to mind the cold – Bulbasaur was cheerfully downing mouthfuls of damp earth for his breakfast, his wounds sealing up nicely after Eve had treated them. Screwball hovered near to Josh's shoulder, wearing the vacant expression of a magnemite with nothing in particular to do.

This morning wasn't quite so peaceful as it had been in Arborville. Somewhere in the branches of the alder that overhung the campsite, a pair of mating pikachu were being annoyingly vocal -

"Piiika pikapikapikapikapikaaa!"

Josh did his best to ignore them. Screwball had no such sense of discretion and stared up into the branches – although Josh suspected he was more interested in the electricity stored in their cheek sacs.

Some sleepy mumblings drifted from Eve's tent. Yesterday she'd decided to catch a pineco, to add some balance to her team of speedsters. The problem was that the pineco seemed to know what she wanted. The first colony she approached immediately surrounded her with a thick field of Spikes. It turned out that Spikes were no match for aron steel soles, though Josh wished that he'd discovered that under other circumstances. Picking Eve up and carrying her out of the Spikes might have seemed like the most sensible solution but it was also the most awkward ... not least because it was only after he'd set her down that they'd both remembered Gail's Defog -

"PIKA-AAA!"

"Right, that tears it!" Josh snapped. "Screwball?"

"Maaag."

"Get rid of them."

Screwball swiftly headed into the branches. There was a brief blast of electricity, the _ckroom _of a Sonic Boom, and a pair of shell-shocked pikachu dropped into the dirt. The female gave Josh a reproachful look before they scampered away.

Still in her hoodie dress and yawning like a slowpoke, Eve emerged from her tent and plunked down opposite. "What's the fire for," she said tonelessly.

"Breakfast."

"Why didn't you just use my camp stove?"

"What? Oh. I forgot you had that. I guess my first instinct is to build a campfire," Josh said. Eve was giving him a sceptical look, "Blame my parents and their 'hunter-gatherer camping' trips."

"Well it's warmer than my stove," Eve admitted, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. While Josh kept an eye on the fire, Eve rummaged after the bread for breakfast. "Ugh, great. The baguette's stale."

"I know what we can do with it," Josh said after a pause for thought. "Bulbasaur, would you find us some salad?"

[Sure thing,] Bulbasaur replied, and headed off into the meadow.

"You know what you're looking for, right?"

[Yep!] Bulbasaur called back, while Josh grabbed a cookpot and headed off downstream.

"Hey!" Eve said indignantly. "Aren't you going to tell me what you're planning?"

"Nope. It's a surprise!"

About half a mile downstream he found what he was looking for – a good spot to look for river clams, in the fine silty mud by the riverbank.

Unfortunately, that spot was on the wrong side of the Withywindle. This side was a flat, pebbly beach, and there wasn't a worthwhile crossing in sight. _Damn. _There was no way there'd be any shellfish in the shallows. _Oh well, nothing for it. _Making certain that a nosy Eve hadn't decided to follow him, Josh quickly stripped down. The waist-deep river water was chilly but it would be easier to dry himself than to dry his clothes.

It only took a minute of rummaging to find a clam, dull brown and about palm-sized. Josh liked foraging for shellfish in this tactile way, even if it was cold. He searched as much with his hands and toes as with his eyes. It was with toe-touch that he discovered a bed of freshwater mussels hiding beneath the overhang of a large boulder – Josh picked a double-handful of the biggest. He was bent double, digging out a particularly big clam when something growled softly.

There was an ursaring standing on the river bank.

Josh froze, the prize clam in his hand forgotten. The ursaring loomed like a wall of fur and muscle scowling down at him. His gaze was drawn inexorably to the battery of gleaming six-inch claws adorning its paws. _And I left Bulbasaur and Screwball behind. _Naked and unarmed, he could hardly feel more vulnerable.

Ursaring had been fishing, he noticed. It was holding a pawful of freshly caught trout and … not doing anything much. It was just standing there, scowling at him.

Hoping fervently that he was going to get away with this, Josh carefully tossed his prize clam at Ursaring's feet. Ursaring picked it up with a shovel-sized paw and examined it closely._ Please, just take it and go! _Ursaring grunted and daintily popped the clam between its teeth. With its free paw, it selected the smallest of its fish and held it out invitingly. Tentatively, and with one worried eye on those long claws, Josh took the gift. That done, Ursaring turned and ponderously stumped off, waving a paw as if to say 'So long!'

With Ursaring gone, Josh finally had a chance to swallow his heart again. _Ok._ He forced himself to stay calm._ Just because an ursaring has given me a fish is no reason to start running around panicking. _He made his way back across the river and sat down on the beach for a while, no longer caring who happened by. _It would be nice to go for more than a day without being scared out of my skin. _Then he got dressed and headed back to camp.

* * *

Back at the campsite, Eve was browsing her Pokédex while her pokémon finished their breakfast. Bulbasaur was back with bunches of wild salad held in his vines.

"How on earth did you catch that?" Eve demanded on spotting the fish.

"I didn't. An ursaring gave it to me," Josh said in the bright, brittle voice of a man who can't quite believe the morning he's had.

"You're not joking, are you?" Eve said. "That does it, I'm looking that up."

"Ursaring, the Hibernator Pokémon," her Pokédex chattered as Josh spitted the fish on a hazel rod. "Though these pokémon have a fierce reputation, they are not usually aggressive. When two ursaring meet, they will often exchange gifts of food as a method of avoiding territorial conflict."

"That explains that," Josh said with forced casualness. He suspended the fish over the fire to cook. "So Bulbasaur, what have you found?"

"Ooh, what we having?" Eve said, immediately interested.

"Wild salad, river clam and mussel sandwich with a bit of fish on the side. Ok, let's see … chickweed, dandelion leaves – hm, and flowers – wood sorrel, oh!" Josh gasped. "Wild garlic! Bulbasaur, you've excelled yourself."

[I looked _really_ hard for it,] Bulbasaur said proudly.

Josh cleaned the shellfish while Eve cut the bread. The shellfish went into the pot with a cup of water, the wild garlic and a good splash of olive oil. _I wish I had a bit of chili pepper for this. _He set the pot over Eve's campstove to cook. Josh wasn't sure he approved of that stove. It was an expensive wood-burning model, with an integrated fan and electricity generator; Josh had been brought up to distrust devices like that.

By the time their food was finished Eve was hovering impatiently, the phrase 'Is it ready yet?' obviously teetering on her lips. Josh smiled with the satisfaction of a job done well as he added the gently steaming shellfish to Eve's sandwich. Eve bit into it eagerly, tearing away a chunk with gusto.

"Mmn," she exclaimed appreciatively. "What's that lemony kinda flavour?"

"That'll be the wood sorrel," Josh said, taking the fish off the fire. "Have some of the trout."

He peeled back the skin and pulled off a lump of the pale pink fish. The flesh was firm and light and gloriously oily from being cooked in its own skin.

Neither Josh nor Eve said much for a while, focussing on their hot breakfast for a cold morning. Inevitably the trout didn't last long. By rights, the sight of Eve methodically licking her fingers ought to be rather off-putting, Josh thought. Her lips were shiny with oil – oh, and a bit of her cheek too. Yet there was something endearing about that; it was cute, in a messy sort of way. _Maybe it's because it's _my _food she's devouring. _There was still something bothering him about their friendship though.

"Um, Eve? You know how we're being honest about how we feel?" Josh started. Eve looked at him apprehensively. "Well yesterday you told that idiot William that you'd picked me and I just wondered … why," he said rather more quickly than he'd intended.

"Oh!" Eve said with a relieved giggle. "I thought you were interesting. But more than anything else you really listen to what I've got to say. Most people don't, not really, they're just waiting for their turn to speak. Or they don't see Eve at all but just _Joy_ and are only interested in putting a novelty notch in their bedpost," she growled.

Josh hurriedly took a bite of his sandwich. There was a warm, fuzzy-edged sensation somewhere in the region of his diaphragm that had nothing to do with the hot breakfast. Eve liked him and he was just being himself – that was a _good_ feeling.

"Why did you say 'yes'?" Eve asked.

"I admire your passion. Your self-assurance," Josh said, looking at the fire. "You know exactly what you want to do, and why, and damn what anyone else thinks," he idly poked at the ashes. "And I usually feel intimidated and nervy around pretty, confident girls, but not with you."

"Oh ..." Eve said nothing else for a moment. It didn't sound like a disappointed 'Oh'.

"I guess I'll just have to try harder to be scary then! Grr!" she said, growling playfully. She was shivering again this morning. Josh grabbed the pot from by the fire, still holding the savoury broth from the shellfish.

"Here," he said, handing it over. "Have a mug of this, warm you right up."

"Don't you want any?"

"You have it, buddy. Call it my thanks for yesterday, if you like," he said sincerely. The events of yesterday had underlined something he'd managed to forget – that, in short, he loved his Bulbasaur dearly. His pokémon was so familiar that it was an emotion Josh didn't really notice any more. Screeching bull onix and wandering ursaring were frightening, but the cold fear that had gripped him when those pineco started glowing … his bruises were beginning to seriously ache, but it didn't matter because Bulbasaur was safe. Now that they could actually converse Josh resolved to tell his beloved partner these things.

"So are you still determined to catch a pineco?" he asked Eve.

"Yep. And I'm going to catch _that _pineco," she answered, pointing up into the branches of the overhanging alder. There was a solitary pineco looking down at them charily. This one had constructed its bag from a multitude of short twigs arranged like wooden spines.

"It's kind of small for its species, isn't it?"

"So are you. What's your point?"

Eve tossed a Poké Ball in the air, expanded it, and caught it in one smooth motion.

* * *

Eve tossed a Poké Ball in the air, expanded it, and caught it in one smooth motion. "Give it another Gust, and make it a concentrated one!"

Josh was watching the battle, taking mental notes. Eve had already had Gail harass pineco with a succession of Quick Attacks before knocking it out of the tree with Gust. Pineco hopped upright and briefly flashed a dull iron colour. Gail launched herself into the air, swooped down and trapped the grounded bagworm in the teeth of a Gust. Debris whirled erratically in a proto-vortex before the lashing wind flung pineco against a tree trunk.

"Got you! Go Poké Ball!" Eve threw the Ball with a quick flick of her wrist. Her Poké Ball struck pineco's centre of mass and bounced off without so much as opening.

"What the? Oh, you clever ..." Eve sounded more impressed than upset.

"What the hell happened there?" Josh asked.

"It's using anti-Poké Ball armour. Those twigs stop the Poké Ball from getting close enough for the Capture Net to deploy. Oh, I _have_ to catch you now!"

Meanwhile Pineco was sensibly winching itself back into the branches while Eve was distracted.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" she yelled, throwing another Poké Ball. Josh could tell that she was trying to hit a broken spot in pineco's armour, but even Eve's aim wasn't that good. The Ball bounced off, pineco made good its escape, and Eve screamed wordlessly in frustration.

However, the wheels in Josh's head were beginning to turn. If he could find a length of hazel the right shape …

* * *

Josh sat cross-legged with a hazel branch across his knees. He was removing the surplus twigs with the saw blade on his multi-tool. With admirable bloody mindedness Eve was still trying to catch that pineco. Unfortunately, Eve's aiming problems were exacerbated by the fact that pineco was now deliberately trying to stop her from targeting the damaged spots of its armour.

Josh gave his work a critical look. It would still need to be straightened out over the fire – _I wish I had some sandpaper and a bit of copper sheeting to finish it properly_ – but it would be fit for purpose.

* * *

Eve gnawed irritably at a chocolate bar. Pineco had retreated into its tree, watching Eve as intently as she watched it. "It's repaired its armour already, look," she commented.

Josh trimmed off the last few splinters with his knife. "That'll do," he grudgingly admitted.

"What are you making now?" Eve said testily.

"You're going to regret that, Eve, because it's something for you," Josh replied calmly. "I call it – the Capture Spear!"

The finished tool was over sixty inches long, making it almost as long as Josh was tall. For most of its length it was simply a stick of good hazel, but at one end he had left a few inches of the branches on the stick, so that a Poké Ball could nestle quite nicely there. He had secured one in place with a few strips of electrical tape, so that the button faced directly forwards like a spearhead.

"Josh, you hoopy frood," Eve exclaimed, understanding immediately. With a Poké Ball taped into place, the Capture Spear would allow her to strike faster and with much better accuracy than she could manage from throwing a Poké Ball. She spun it around in her hands a few times to get a feel for the balance.

"Yeeah, this'll work! Ok, let's do this while pineco's still tired!" Eve said with renewed enthusiasm, selecting a Poké Ball from her gilet. "Meowth, you have the honour!"

Meowth scratched an ear idly, giving Eve a look of feline disdain. He lazily meowed something to his trainer.

"Yes, you do, you rotten moggy. Now behave and cut down that pineco. There may be a fish head in it for you."

"Mee-owth!" the scruffy black cat replied, suitably bribed. He darted off towards the base of the big alder, splitting off into Double Teams as he went. The clowder of fake meowth swarmed up the nearby trees, converging on the solitary pineco. Unconcerned, pineco launched a flight of Pin Missiles, the pins arrowing and snaking down at the clowder. In one attack it destroyed most of the clones – but missed the real Meowth, who sliced through its silken anchor with one swipe.

"Chase it! Fury Swipes!" Eve ordered. Meowth dropped straight from the tree, claws unsheathed and ready. It should have been an unavoidable high-impact attack, but pineco simply started a Rapid Spin; Meowth was thrown violently clear before he could so much as land a blow. He howled harshly, as angry as he was hurt.

Eve paced back and forth predatorialy, holding the Capture Spear in both hands. Even as a high-speed Meowth whizzed by she lunged, jabbing once-twice-thrice. Eve apparently saw something Josh couldn't, since she suddenly cursed and retreated.

"Meowth, in front of me!" she barked in a tone that brooked no argument. Josh almost took a step forward before his brain reminded him that she was talking to the cat. Meowth looked like he was itching to attack, but he obeyed his trainer and placed himself between Eve and pineco.

"Flash," Eve commanded. Meowth's charm suddenly blazed like burning magnesium. Josh covered his eyes too late – by the time he blinked the glare out of his vision pineco was starting to glow yellow.

"Oh, no you don't!" Eve roared, lunging forward.

"_Eve!_" Josh shouted._ What the hell is she doing?_

Eve deftly spun the Capture Spear into an overarm grip. Pineco's glow brightened, its armour about to become a hail of flying shrapnel. Eve struck fast and true, thrusting the Spear down with both hands. With the distinctive _whine-whoosh_ of the Capture Net opening, pineco was sucked into the Ball. The button light flashed half-heartedly a few times.

… _ping!_

"_Ha-ha!_" Eve whooped. "I finally gotcha, you cunning little bastard!"

_I can't believe she got away with that._ Eve started an impromptu victory-dance, waving the Capture Spear in the air while Meowth meowed insistently at her feet.

"Oh, calm down, you'll get your fish head – hey, what's up?" she said, seeing the look on Josh's face.

_You got _closer_ to a Self-Destructing pineco. _"You are … a brave, crazy girl," was all he could think to say.


	15. Deep in the Deepwoods

**Chapter Thirteen – Deep in the Deepwoods**

_**Evelina**_

It was their third morning in the Ilex Forest. Eve sleepily checked her hair in the mirror before she headed downstairs to the Pokémon Centre's common room. She'd managed to do it while still more than half-asleep – after so many years of styling her hair in the same way every morning, the habit was ingrained into her bones.

Eve had never been to Deepwood Pokémon Centre before, but she was familiar with it. It was quite big for a trailside Pokémon Centre, being a large two-storey log house sited at the crossroads of the Ilex Forest. Most visiting trainers came up the southern trail from Azalea Town to head on north to Route 34.

It was quiet in the common room this morning. The Centre nurse was doing paperwork at the front desk – their eyes met, and she raised a sardonic eyebrow. _Sonya_. If Eve was the black mareep of the Cherrygrove Joys, then her second cousin Sonya was the golden. Eve knew what that raised eyebrow meant. It meant: 'I'm twenty-three, and I'm _already_ a nurse. This is _my _Pokémon Centre. I'm a real Joy - what are you?'. She shot her cousin a sharp look back, with a slight flourish of the Capture Spear. It meant: 'I am a pokémon trainer. My choices are my own. Back off!'

Josh was watching the coverage of yesterday's Pokémon World Tournament matches in the lounge. Eve hesitated – _Oh, what the hell –_ and gave him a good morning hug.

"Ow!" Josh flinched. "Not so tight!"

"Sorry," Eve said sheepishly, "Shouldn't have hugged you with your bruises."

"I didn't say _that_ ..."

She hugged him again, gentler this time. "Hey, Lorelei's back at the PWT!"

The camera lingered on Lorelei for a moment. She was beautiful in the same way that a snowflake is beautiful, arms folded tightly – no easy feat – across her chest. Her glasses seemed to obscure her eyes, like sheets of ice.

"Yeah, I wasn't going to watch this but she caught my eye," Josh said admiringly.

_Typical guy._

"The way she battles is just - incredible!"

_Atypical guy!_

"- she was spaced as a psyduck, frankly, until she set foot in the trainer's box ..." he trailed off. Eve found she wasn't sure how to react; she hadn't seen Josh star struck before. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sonya surreptitiously keeping an eye on her.

"It was like she flicked a switch, you know?" Josh continued, "One minute she's away with the fairies, the next – calculating. Ruthless. Indomitable as a glacier."

"Well, she _is_ a pokémon master," Eve said. Sonya was getting on her nerves. _What is that little witch looking at? _It seemed to her that Sonya was watching Josh a lot more than she was watching her.

"Josh ..." Eve said slowly, "Why is my cousin over there spying on you?"

"Must be my virile aura of sexuality," he deadpanned.

The giggle bubbled up before Eve could stop it. She could think of several positive adjectives to attach to Josh, but 'virile' was not one of them. "Come on, you. We'd better make tracks before Sonya jumps you," she giggled, as they stepped out into the Ilex Deepwoods.

* * *

Beneath the leafy roof of the Deepwoods, the dawn twilight lasted all day. The Deepwood trees stood so closely together that their crowns merged into a green roof. They were ancient-looking things, with gnarled grey limbs and leaves of a rich, dark green. Here and there spots of daylight found their way down through the forest roof, startlingly bright against the gloom. The Pokémon Centre itself stood in the middle of a small clearing, a rough oval washed with sunlight. Just outside, a tall flagpole rose up above the dense trees, flying a red P on a white background.

Eve wasn't sure what she had expected from the Deepwoods. They were said to be one of the few true wildwoods left in Johto – the very soul and centre of the Ilex Forest. People had lived here once, long ago, but the wildwood had returned, smothering the abandoned villages under a green blanket.

You couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the forest. There was something about it that was vaguely unfriendly, as if the trees disapproved of people. Josh said they were called _Quercus obscurus_, or black oak, and that they grew nowhere else in the world. Eve was privately glad that their time in the Deepwoods would be a short one. The eastern trail from the Pokémon Centre struck out across the narrow waist of the forest, the quickest route through to Len Town.

"Oh, hang on Josh," Eve said, holding out the Capture Spear, "This is yours."

Josh didn't take it right away. "But I made it for you," he said.

"I know, Josh. And it worked beautifully."

"Well ... ok then."

"You're not upset, are you?" Eve asked anxiously.

"No. No, it's ok. It's just a clever stick."

"Are you s-" said Eve, then stopped herself. _Trust him on this one, Eve._

About half a league down the trail they came across the Ilex Forest Shrine.

It looked very much like any other wayside hokora, discreetly tucked away beneath the spreading crown of a huge black oak. The shrine resembled a small wooden house raised up to a convenient height on stilts, with a porch of sorts to accommodate offerings. Eve felt a bit disappointed; the Ilex Forest Shrine should be mystically illuminated by a sunbeam, not standing gloomily in this grey shade.

They regarded the Shrine in silence for a while. Eventually, Josh said, "You going to leave an offering?"

Eve kicked her heels in the dirt a couple of times. She was well-known to the spirits back home in Cherrygrove - she had been making small offerings at the shrine for almost as long as she could remember. It wasn't worship, as such. Eve regarded it as an acknowledgement that people and spirits had to live in the same area, so they might as well get along.

"I don't think so," she said. Making an offering to the spirits at home was one thing, but the Deepwood spirits didn't know her any more than she knew them. "How about you?"

"No," Josh said firmly, "I don't need their help to get through this forest."

_Boys and their pride._ Eve shrugged and followed her friend down the trail. A faint breeze stirred the air. She turned, looking back at the Forest Shrine. Dead leaves skittered across the path but … nothing.

* * *

It was almost noon, and Eve decided that she didn't like this forest. It was too dark. It was too _quiet_. The forest pokémon were secretive, watching them from conspiratorial huddles, melting away whenever she stared back. It wasn't so bad with Josh there. He was practising with his Capture Spear, trying to 'learn how to wield it as deftly as she did'.

It was sweet, really. She watched him try to spin the Spear from an underarm into an overarm grip, lose control of it and drop it clumsily into the dirt.

"Not much of an athlete, are you?" Eve laughed, giving him a friendly punch on the arm.

"You shut up, you," he grumbled.

"Oh, sweetling, I'm only teasing," she said, retrieving the Spear from the dirt, "I am going to teach you to throw better, though. See if we can avoid a repeat of that bellossom incident, huh?"

Josh wasn't paying attention. He was frowning in concentration, head cocked to one side.

"Josh?"

"Sh-sh … can you hear that?"

Eve listened sceptically. Aside from an oddish slipping away into the undergrowth … nothing.

"... no?"

"Someone's crying, I'm sure of it. They might need help."

With that, he turned and strode briskly off the path. Bewildered, Eve hurried after him, trying to keep up as he weaved purposefully between the trees. _How the hell does he move so quickly in these sodding woods? _She was debating whether to argue with him over whether he had heard anything at all when she caught the sound of feminine crying from up ahead.

"Hey!" Josh called out, "Hey, are you ok?"

There was a gasp of surprise and relief, then the sound of someone tearing through the undergrowth, wildly yelling "I'm here, I'm here!" as she ran. The girl half-collided with, half threw her arms around Josh, nearly bowling him off his feet. She sobbed breathlessly over his shoulder, burbling something about being lost forever.

"Hey now, hey now," Josh said gently, tactfully extricating himself from her vicegrip, "It's ok, we've found you now."

The girl sniffed prettily and wiped her eyes with a sleeve. She looked like an older teenager to Eve, a little shorter than herself. She was dressed head-to-foot in mossy green – green raincoat, green umbrella, green wellies, even a green _rainskirt_. Her hair was the most gorgeous shade of pale gold, tied back into a loose ponytail.

"Sorry," she said. She stroked her ponytail awkwardly, "I've not long broken up with my boyfriend and I thought I'd take a walk to, ye know, clear my heid and I wasn't watching where I was going and oh god I'm babbling. I'm Maisie. Just Maisie."

Eve took a moment to absorb that stream of nonsense. The silly girl evidently wasn't an Ilex native – there was a lot of heathery Blackthorn brogue in her accent. "Josh, hadn't we better get back to the path?"

"I suppose so. It's in this direction – no, I tell a lie ..."

Maisie gave Eve a watery smile. "I bet I can guess what your name is!" she said with a kind of wobbly gaiety, "I don't think I've ever seen a nurse on a journey before!"

"I'm not a nurse," Eve replied bluntly, and felt a brief burst of schadenfreude when Maisie's smile disappeared. Josh was pacing back and forth, frowning the way he tended to do when he was concentrating. A nasty little suspicion started to grow in the back of Eve's mind. "Josh … which way do we go?"

Josh wouldn't look at her. Instead he scowled at the trees accusingly.

"Joshua Cook!" Eve warned.

"I'm … not sure which direction the path is in."

"What!" Eve barked.

"What?" Maisie cried.

"Calm down, damnit! We're not bleached skeletons yet. There's still the Ranger Union," Josh said, tapping the number into his battered slab of a Pokégear, "No signal, what the hell?"

"Shall I get the bone polish then?" Eve said tartly.

"This can't be happening again!" Maisie wailed.

"This is ridiculous, I _bought_ this Pokégear because it gets a signal anywhere!"

"Everywhere but this forest!" Maisie persisted.

"I -"

"That's not helping!" Eve yelled at the silly girl. These sodding woods were unnerving enough without Maisie's wailing.

"Now -"

"Why are you _yelling_ at me?"

"Because this is _your fault!_"

"Everyone shut up!" Josh roared.

There was a shocked silence.

"Right," Josh said, "Eve, send Lyra up above the trees and find out where the Pokémon Centre is. If I'm right she should be able to see the flag."

"I'll go myself," Eve said, taking off her backpack. Secretly she was relieved that Josh still knew what he was doing, and relieved to be doing something useful, "Give me a leg-up."

With a little effort Josh helped her hoist herself up into the branches. That was one good thing about these trees – the gnarled and twisted limbs made for easy climbing. Eve made her way to the highest point she could find, pushing her way up through the leafy, twiggy roof into the noon daylight.

The day was overcast and getting cloudier, but after the Deepwood gloom Eve still needed to blink to get used to the light. It looked as though they were near the middle of a miles-wide depression in the ground; in every direction almost all she could see was a blanket of trees. Even the lines of whatever paths existed were smothered by the Deepwood. Leagues off to the right Eve could see the Ilex Hills, the highlands that lay near to the Lake of Life. And very far off, she could just about make out a red P fluttering above the horizon.

"It's that way, just on the horizon," Eve said, leaping down the last few feet.

"That way," Josh repeated pensively, scrutinising the map, "Good, we have a bearing. Ok, so we'll head _that_ way."

"But – the Pokémon Centre's the other way," Eve said, confused.

"Yes. But there's marshy ground somewhere that way that spells trouble if we end up in it. No. We'll keep heading east."

* * *

It was late afternoon, and the forest was seriously getting on Eve's nerves. The damn black oaks stretched on for mile after endless mile, glowering down in mute disapproval. Strange paths appeared in the undergrowth only to abruptly disappear again; the sun was hidden behind the clouds, deepening the gloom still further. Eve didn't have the slightest idea where she was, and that chilly knowledge was steadily fraying her temper.

Josh was having real trouble navigating, and that wasn't helping either. Somehow he kept getting turned towards the north, away from the east and into the heart of the Deepwoods. Eve could see his growing frustration every time he glanced at his compass. "I don't understand it," he kept muttering to himself.

Eve finished the last of her chocolate bar and growled under her breath. Josh had decided to stop for a rest while he figured out the way. They'd finally come across a proper path over the last half-mile, following it south-east till it split into a fork. The left-hand fork headed down a wide avenue of trees – the right was rather narrower, thick beset with thorns and briars. A gentle gust disturbed the dark leaves. Their rustling almost sounded like sibilant whispering.

"I think … I think I know this place," Maisie started, "Aye! Aye, I do! That broad, bonny road there, that leads up to the hills! There's a path that takes ye out just north of Len Town."

The trees loomed over the thorny path, their branches lacing together overhead. They were whispering malevolently at her. _Wait … no they weren't._ Just her imagination.

"Hm," Josh said neutrally. Eve drifted closer to her friend for the comfort of it.

"We could be in town before sunset," Maisie said pointedly.

"Josh, maybe, maybe she's right, we'd end up heading east anyway," Eve said.

Josh stared down the left-hand path as if he hadn't heard either of them. After a while he slowly recited:

"Up the airy mountain,

And down the rushy glen,

We dare not go a-hunting,

For fear o' little men."

"No," he said firmly, "No, there's no such path on the map, and going north for a while solves nothing."

"Why don't you believe me?" Maisie complained.

"Because you got lost here in the first place."

There was only enough room for them to go single file, and still the thorns snagged and pulled. Eve made sure that she walked behind Josh; she wouldn't admit it, but his confidence was encouraging. It was silly – she _felt_ silly – but she also felt nervy and annoyed.

There was an oddly familiar crackling, spitting sound behind her. Eve glanced about, puzzled, and spotted a leaping orange light in the brambles.

_Fire._

The flames spread quickly, greedily burning through the tangled vines. Leaf litter caught light and crumbled to ash in moments. The air was already starting to become hazy from smoke. Eve looked about wildly – to her horror independent fires were breaking out all across the forest ahead.

"Fire!" she shouted. Her warning was redundant – Josh had stopped dead, startled. Maisie was shrieking incoherently. Trees were blazing, old dry bark going up in rippling sheets of flame. Eve clamped down on the rising panic. _Think. Use your eyes! _The wildfire described a rough crescent consuming the forest to the right and the path ahead. _Back. Back and to the left._

"Back! Back this way!" Eve shouted. Maisie was still overwhelmed with panic; Eve grabbed her firmly by the arm and towed her away from the blaze. She could feel her own fear crushed down into a little ball in the pit of her stomach. _Panic later. Act now. Take charge. Be sensible._

She glanced back. There was Josh, leaning on his Spear, silhouetted against the raging, billowing, yellow-hot fire. The madman hadn't moved! The trees were like black skeletons wreathed in flame and he hadn't moved!

"Josh! Get back!" she commanded with her mother's steel tone.

Josh half-turned to look back at her. "Why?" he said, and _stepped into the inferno_.

"Josh!"

Dusk descended on the forest. The wildfire snuffed itself out. Unharmed, Josh looked critically at the unscorched forest, as if awarding it marks out of ten. He said something cheerfully, but Eve couldn't hear him. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would burst. Suddenly, the truth of what had just happened sunk in; her fear turned to fury, and she punched his arm as hard as she could.

"Bastard!" she yelled.

"What -"

"Bastard!" Eve punched him again, "Do you know how _scared_ – I thought you'd be – how _could _you -" she babbled, trying to hold back the tears.

Josh had the decency to look ashamed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry." He put his arms around her, but Eve wouldn't hug him back and just held her arms up close to her chest.

"If you ever do that again I won't forgive you," she muttered into his shoulder. _Make an excuse and I'll bite your head off. _Josh wisely said nothing.

"How did you know." she said.

"The fire wasn't hot."

"What?" Eve said, breaking away, "Of course it was -"

But wait … it wasn't, was it? Now that she thought about it, there had been smoke and light, but no heat – and she'd been too scared to notice.

"Something's screwing with us," Josh said, "Ghost pokémon, maybe. I'll bet that's why I'm having trouble navigating."

"What are we going to do Josh?" Eve asked wearily.

"We keep going," Josh said resolutely, "No forest has defeated me yet, and the Deepwoods won't be the first," he laid a hand on her shoulder, "Trust me on that."

Eve looked Josh in his dark eyes. The fact was, even without an accurate idea of where they were, no phone and illusions throwing him off track, Josh still wasn't lost.

"I trust you."

* * *

It was early evening, and Eve decided that she hated this forest. The sun setting above the trees brought an early nightfall to the Deepwood below. Over the past few miles the path had turned from thorny to ferny, forcing them at times to wade through a carpet of waist-high fronds. Eve wondered how often anyone walked this deep into the forest. A while ago they'd come across an old iron signpost, of all things, pointing towards a place called Ercledoune.

Not long after that they happened upon the ruins of a castle. Not much of it was left standing aside from the shell of the keep - the outer bailey had crumbled to the height of a garden wall. Best of all, the bailey was also a very welcome woodland glade. Second best of all, Maisie was finally quiet. _Probably sulking._

"Doesn't look like there's much more than an hour of daylight left," Eve said, "What do you say to camping here for the night? It's as good a place as any."

"Yes, please!" Maisie groaned, "I'm so tired."

"I'd hoped to reach Len Town by tonight," Josh said doubtfully, "Depends how close the Deepwood edge is."

Eve slung her backpack on the ground. "I'll take a look at the land. I saw a good climbing tree back there."

"I've just got to, erm … use the ferns," Maisie said needlessly euphemistically, "Might have a wee look at the ruins too. I'll be a while."

There was a rotten old grandfather of a black oak within eyeshot of the glade. Eve quickly hauled herself up into its heights and scanned the landscape. The grey sunset made details difficult to pick out, but her heart leapt to see the lights of Len Town in the east. It would mean a trek in the dark, but they could make it there tonight.

Eve made her way to one of the stockier lower branches and sat herself down. Down below, Josh sat leaning against the bailey wall, resting his eyes. The sight of Len Town had put her in the mood for mischief. _Time to give _him _a scare._

But she couldn't move. Her muscles were frozen, held not painfully, but immovably. With a flash of anger Eve remembered the sensation from an incident involving an irritable abra – Disable.

"Looks like we're going to have to sleep here tonight, hun," something said in Eve's own voice.

The something that walked into the glade was a young woman in her twenties, kinda skinny, sensibly dressed, with a hairstyle better suited to a somewhat more mature woman. Down to the last detail, she was Eve's exact double. _Another illusion! Something's going to pay for this one!_

The illusion-Evelina gracefully vaulted the bailey wall. For some reason illusion-Evelina had removed her polo shirt, and was wearing just the sleeveless green gilet instead. _Slightly unzipped, too, _Eve noticed to her deep annoyance.

"What? Oh. Oh, well," Josh sighed, "Can't be helped. I'll get a fire started in a moment."

Evelina sat back on her legs in front of Josh, with a rather contrite look on her face. "I'm sorry I hit you earlier. I was just so scared that I was going to lose you."

"I didn't intend to do that, Eve, honestly I didn't."

"Well, thinking back … it was kinda hot," Evelina giggled.

Josh gave her a blank look. "No, it wasn't. That's the whole point."

"Not the fire!" Evelina laughed, giving him a playful shove, "You! Standing there all fearless and figuring it out."

There was a pause as Josh considered this. "Really?" he said.

"I'm really glad you're here, you know. Journeying by myself was an adventure, but also … kinda lonely," Evelina went on softly, "Don't you ever get lonely on the road?"

"I liked the freedom," Josh said carefully, "But I like travelling with you, more than I thought I would."

There was another moment of silence. Frozen in her tree, Eve watched with the intensity of a pidgeotto.

"It's a lovely evening," Evelina said, biting her lower lip gently, "All the better for being out here alone, huh?"

"Er. I suppose so ..." said Josh, beginning to look a little nervous.

Evelina leaned forward, her hand drifting to the zipper of her gilet. "I know what I want this evening," she said seductively. She tugged the zip down another couple of inches. Josh's obviously couldn't help but look, brief and almost reluctant though his glance was. Eve burned with embarrassment and fury. _Those are my boobs you're showing off!_

"Eve … you can't be suggesting what I think you are."

"Is it so strange? I've seen the way you look at me," Evelina purred, "Don't you want to see what's under my jacket? Unless you'd rather see me from the back."

"... what about Maisie?"

"There are two tents. And she's going to hear me anyway," she giggled, "I can't believe I just said that."

"You know, Eve, this is all a bit sudden -"

"Shh. Don't think." Evelina shuffled closer. She leaned in -

\- and caught Josh's fist square in the mouth. Josh wasn't a big man, and it wasn't a hard blow, but it was enough to knock Evelina onto her back.

"What are you?" Josh demanded. The force holding Eve was instantly released. Driven by fury, she raced down the tree and was over the bailey wall just as the illusion-Evelina was scrambling to her feet.

"There's the real Eve!" Josh said.

"So you've figured it out, have you?" Evelina snarled. She made a wide sweeping gesture, like she was throwing off a coat. The girl blurred, her features transformed – and became Maisie, angrily tossing her pale gold ponytail.

_Now to find out what you really are._

"Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon, and the evolved form of Vulpix. Ninetales are both intelligent and vengeful, using illusions to trap victims into receiving curses."

"I nearly had ye as well," Maisie said, her illusion visibly slipping. Pointed vulpine ears were pushing their way up through her hair.

"Why," Josh bluntly demanded.

"Why? Why?" Maisie snarled, "You dare walk through these sacred woods and leave nae offering? How dare ye come to Ercledoune withouten leave of me?"

"I'll come and go of Ercledoune and ask no leave of thee," Josh flatly replied. It wasn't an argument; he said it as if he was stating a fact.

"Oh, we'll see!" Maisie appeared to produce a Poké Ball from a pocket, "Ninetales, go!"

Ninetales – the true Ninetales – manifested in a flash of fire. Her coat shimmered gorgeously even in the fading light, but there was malice in her deep red eyes.

"So it's like that, is it?" Josh said evenly, "Magnemite, battle's on!"

"Gail! Help him out!" Eve cried, yanking Gail's Fast Ball from its clasp on her gilet. Gail elegantly backed air with a flick of her wings and settled on Eve's upraised wrist. Josh folded his arms in preparation for battle.

"Indomitable as a glacier," he muttered.

"Ninetales, Flame Burst!" Maisie ordered.

"Intercept. Thundershock!" Josh snapped. The two attacks collided, the Flame Burst exploding in a shower of embers.

"Gail, Quick Attack!" Eve said. Gail eagerly launched herself at Ninetales' legs. Ninetales was just that bit quicker, leaping straight up and over Gail who went skimming away across the clearing. Ninetales landed fluidly and launched her own Quick Attack, dashing past Eve and tackling Josh hard in the stomach. Josh was thrown into the bailey wall, the breath squeezed from his lungs. He collapsed into the undergrowth, clutching at his midsection as Ninetales bore down on him.

But Magnemite didn't take too kindly to pokémon baring teeth at its master. Maisie screamed as Magnemite's Thundershock burned through Ninetales. By now Gail was lined up ready for another attack, picking up speed, bringing her talons to bear -

"Hit the neck!" Eve shouted. _I'll make you regret that Quick Attack! _Gail put all the force of her descent into her Tackle and sunk her talons in deep. Ninetales howled in pain and vindictive fury. Maisie's illusion was seriously beginning to unravel, her teeth turning into fangs, ponytail multiplying and growing longer. Gail cunningly took flight again, circling round Ninetales so she couldn't keep an eye on her and Magnemite at the same time.

Magnemite seemed to realise they had the advantage. It spun to face Ninetales and emitted a terrible screeching, scraping noise; much like Supersonic, but harsher, even more discordant.

"Aaargh!" Maisie screamed, "Burn it!"

Ninetales rounded on Magnemite, flames flickering between her jaws. Her attack engulfed Magnemite in a ball of crackling fire. "Magne-miiite ..." it wailed, drifting semi-conscious to the ground.

"Come on Gail, let's end this now!" Eve shouted. She was resisting the urge to throttle Maisie where she stood, illusion or no, "No more games! Gail, give it your strongest Gust!"

Gail swept down her powerful wings as hard as she could. The Gust rippled Ninetales' lustrous fur, her tails streaming out like banners. Ninetales snarled her defiance – a Flame Burst roared from her jaws only for the fireball to be torn apart by the winds. Suddenly the Gust started to spin around Ninetales, dust and dirt whirling in the vortex. Cobalt lightning flashed in the howling winds. Eve quickly scanned the vortex with her Pokédex.

"Twister, a Dragon-type attack. Classified as a Special attack, Twister may inflict the Flinch status on opponents."

"Perfect work, Gail!" _Time to end this. _"Poké Ball -"

"No!" Maisie screamed. Battered and bleeding from her neck, Ninetales fled to the edge of the bailey, "No, no, no, I will nae be captured!"

Maisie was beginning to fade. She pointed a vengeful, translucent finger at Eve. "This is not the end. Mark my words!" she warned, "I will be back and I will see you cursed!"

"If I see you again then it will be the Poké Ball for you! Be told!" Eve raised the Poké Ball threateningly, and with a last snarl, Ninetales fled into the depths of the Deepwood.

Eve found Josh sore but otherwise fine. As it turned out, Ninetales' attack had badly winded him, preventing him from being able to give Magnemite any further orders. He winced from the pain of his many bruises when Eve helped him up. "You're seeing a doctor in town," Eve told him, "No arguments. I'll take care of Magnemite."

Eve held up her wrist for Gail to perch. "Perfect work," she told her, stroking her brilliant scarlet crest.

"Pidgeo," Gail replied, and tried to groom her hair.

"Josh …" Eve asked hesitantly, "How did … how did you know it was another illusion?"

To her surprise, Josh actually blushed. "The eyes. They were the wrong shade of blue."

* * *

Night had truly fallen, and Eve had never been so glad to see the lights of a town. The Deepwood edge loomed behind them; down across the fields Len Town twinkled like a friendly constellation. It had been one of those days that felt like it had lasted forever, and though Eve suspected that she'd look back on it as a great adventure, now she was only too ready to leave the Ilex Forest behind.

Josh leaned on his Capture Spear. For once, he didn't have a compass in his hand. Eve put her arm around him, this time being gentle about it. "So I was right to trust you," she said, "No forest has defeated you yet."

Josh gave her a tired smile. "Yeah, well, it's a matter of honour. For you to be safe with me, that is."


	16. Old Maud

**Interlude – Old Maud**

Junior Ranger Alicia Fennel carefully tweaked the folds out of her sweater vest. Her sergeant was a stickler for neatness in office uniform and was not above sending her back to the locker room to redress. She checked her shoulder boards one last time – patrol station ID on the right, name and rank insignia on the left.

Fennel sighed, just a little resentfully. She was outside Interview 2, one of Bluefinland Patrol Station's small suite of interview rooms. She quietly entered Observation 2 next door. The room was dimly lit, dominated by the one-way mirror looking into Interview 2.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Fennel said. Sergeant Harlow gave her an appraising look, no doubt searching for something to upbraid her on. Her sergeant had no double standards, every bit as neat and orderly as he expected her to be. He always reminded Fennel of an action figure fresh out of the box.

"Fennel. Take a look," he said. Fennel obediently looked through into the interview room. It had the air of a very dull office, apart from the Area Captain conducting the interview and the stony faced suspect in prison fatigues cuffed to his chair.

"Another poacher?" she asked.

"Not just a poacher. That's pokémon hunter Piers," Harlow said solemnly. "We've been after him for a while. About a week ago he washed up below Giant's Leap. Finally took on more than he could handle."

"What's he being charged with?"

Harlow ignored this. "There are some things a Junior Ranger ought to be told before she earns her laurel," he said. "Do you remember when you asked me if I believe in Lugia?"

"Yes sir. You said you didn't."

"Right. What I didn't tell you was why," Harlow continued. "And that is because there is no point in believing in things that exist."

"But … I thought Lugia was a legend," Fennel said tentatively.

"And? That doesn't mean it can't also exist. There are five of them that we know of. A mother, and her four children. Oh, don't look so astonished," he said, catching Fennel's expression. "Lugia is still a pokémon. Pokémon breed and die same as everything else."

Fennel said nothing. She was sensitive enough to her sergeant's moods to know when to shut up and listen.

"Some of the legends may be true, for all we know. They usually live in the open ocean, down near the abyssal plain. Try studying a pokémon that can cruise at twelve knots two miles below the sea. The mother lugia is about two hundred years old, we think. Who knows what she calls herself, but we call her Old Maud. Each spring she brings her children to the islands, for the sardine boom. Sometimes she stays for the summer, sometimes not," Harlow paused, a faraway look in his eye. "I saw her once. I was a Junior Ranger not much older than you … she was with her eldest son just off the Lariggan Rocks. She doesn't often let herself be seen, but I think it was her way of letting the Union know they were ok."

Fennel glanced back at the stony faced pokémon hunter. Sergeant Harlow liked to keep testing her.

"He was trying to capture her, wasn't he?"

"No. Piers isn't that stupid. It was the young ones he was after."

"... what for?" Fennel asked, with some trepidation. Most poachers at least had a grudging respect for the pokémon they captured, but hunters … they were different.

"Perhaps his client wants to find out just how many of the legends are true," Harlow said. "I doubt that is Piers' style though. More likely he'd sell one to some dictator. There are plenty of despots in the world that would pay handsomely for the ultimate counter-rebellion weapon."

Pokémon hunter Piers stared stonily back at the Captain. The worst part about all this was how normal he looked. A pokémon hunter ought to have some sort of facial scar, or a steely gaze, at least a threatening tattoo or something. But Piers, well, Piers looked like the kind of guy you'd see in an office cubicle somewhere, not in a Ranger Patrol Station. This was the kind of guy who would sell a lugia to be used as a terror weapon. Against _civilians_. Fennel tried and failed to suppress a shudder.

"So what do you think, Fennel?" Sergeant Harlow said quietly. "This is as high as the stakes go. Do you still want to earn your laurel?"

"More than ever."


	17. Comfort Zones

**Chapter Fourteen – Comfort Zones**

_**Evelina**_

From: Imogen Joy

Sent: 6 April 2012 21:28:09

To: Evelina Joy

Eve,

Well done! You're one step closer to the Silver Conference! I know you think that Lyra evolving was lucky, but really, you need not think so. I'm surprised that Lyra hadn't evolved yet anyway, it appears that the stress of the Gym Battle was just the push she needed. Still, to defeat a scyther right after evolving, that is quite a feat! It just goes to show that you're a great trainer.

Eve, darling, when were you going to tell me about your new friend? You know I'm not going to go reporting to your mother. I'm glad that you have someone to hang out with on your travels. He seems quite taken with you – did you know he told your mum off this morning? She called him at Arborville to talk to him for herself … well, long story short she told him to behave himself. He didn't like that. Told her that you would be safe with him as a matter of honour, and that he wouldn't answer to her.

In any case, Eve, if you trust him then so do I. And just remember, we all support you. Joys look after each other, and that's that. Mail me back, I'm sure you have some stories to tell!

* * *

Eve clenched her fists tightly and relaxed them again. _Don't go spare. Get his side of the story. Then go spare._ It was hard enough to get away from family squabbles without her friend participating in them. Josh ought to consider himself lucky that she wasn't as angry as her mum must be. Eve scanned the common room, spotting Josh reading the bulletin board at the front of the Pokémon Centre.

"Joshua Cook!" she yelled. Josh took one look at the look on her face, and immediately looked for an escape route.

"Don't!" Eve commanded. "Did you talk to my mum on Friday?"

"Well, yes, but she called me. Er. You could say it was a rather frosty conversation -"

"Do you have any idea how angry she is?"

"Ok, so I'll admit I was a bit antagonistic. I'm sorry, but I get defensive when my honour's questioned."

"Are you kidding? I couldn't be happier that you pissed off Queen Bee!"

"Then _why_ are you shouting at me?" Josh said, exasperated.

"Because_. _Because you should have told me," Eve said. She subsided, with some effort, "I need to be able to trust you, Josh. And that means -"

"No, no, you're right. It was thoughtless of me."

_Why are you trying to fight with him?_

"It's not your fault," she sighed. "You weren't to know. It's just … sodding _family_ games," she sighed again. "What were you reading?"

"Apparently people are willing to pay good money for pokémon."

Most Pokémon Centres had a classified ads board. This one was covered with requests for pokémon caught at White Lake. Fifty dollars for an Infiltrator zubat, seventy for a chinchou … a hundred for a vaporeon. _A hundred and fifty for a buizel?_

"Real good money," Eve mused. "There are buizel at White Lake?"

"A small population. The only permanent buizel population outside Sinnoh, as it happens," Josh said. "I was curious," he added.

"You trainers wouldn't happen to be interested in my ad, now would you?" somebody said in a smooth baritone. The voice belonged to a middle-aged fellow, quite handsome in that distinguished way middle-aged men sometimes were. He looked like an advert for one of the better class of clothes chain.

"I'm seeking a trainer who can catch a buizel. For my daughter's birthday."

"Oh, we're just brows – mmph!" Josh started.

"Oh dear, is that my hand clamped over your mouth?" Eve said innocently. "Would you excuse us for a moment?"

Eve dragged him, protesting indistinctly, out of earshot. "Mon-ey," she intoned.

"I recognise that smug face! That's the Right "Honourable" Timothy Fitzroy MP!" Josh fumed sotto voce. "Last year he paid for the mortgage on his second house with taxpayer's money then _sold_ it for a profit! He can catch his own damn buizel."

"So he's rich and arrogant and has a flimsy idea of the value of a dollar?"

"Yes!"

"So it would be quite easy for a working-class boy to chisel him out of a couple hundred dollars?"

Eve smiled to herself, imagining the cogs spinning in Josh's head. An iniquitous little grin spread slowly across his face.

"Two chisels are better than one?" he said.

"Let's do it," Eve agreed.

Fitzroy was watching with an air of paternal amusement. _Josh is right, he does look smug._

"We'll catch that buizel," she said. "But we'll need three hundred dollars."

"That's twice the price my assistant set," Fitzroy replied with an indulgent laugh. "How about two hundred, because I like your enterprise."

"Two fifty. Plus daily expenses," she insisted.

"I can't pay expenses," said Fitzroy. "It's only a few days until her birthday."

"Are you suggesting that I would drag my heels in order to claim more expenses, sir?" Eve said sweetly. "Because that would be dishonest. You're not accusing a Joy of being dishonest, are you?"

"No, no," Fitzroy said hastily, with a sideways glance at the other trainers in the Centre, "I was emphasising the short-term nature of -"

"Two fifty, and you supply the Poké Balls," Josh broke in. "Six. Three Net Balls, three Dive Balls."

"Six Poké Balls to catch one pokémon," Fitzroy said doubtfully.

"Doesn't look like many trainers are heading up to White Lake," Josh said conversationally.

"I remember when my daddy gave me my little Meowth," Eve said dreamily. "Best birthday ever."

"Alright! I'll agree to those terms," Fitzroy relented. "I'll have my assistant bring round the Poké Balls."

Eve and Josh smirked at each other as Fitzroy left. As soon as he was out of sight they simultaneously whooped and high-fived.

"You are so _evil!_" Eve laughed.

"Me!" Josh cried in mock outrage. "You caught your Meowth in an alley, you liar!"

"Scoundrel!"

"Grifter!"

Laughing and accusing one another of villainy, they headed to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee while they waited for Fitzroy's assistant. There was an empty table by the window, looking out onto Len Town high street. Rather a lot of people here owned Psychic-type pokémon, for some reason.

"Hold on a moment," Josh said as soon as he sat down. "White Lake is a free catch zone, isn't it?"

"I think so," Eve said uncertainly.

"Blast. I'd better go and check. Last thing I need is for Dad to find out I've been arrested for pokémon poaching."

Eve smiled faintly as Josh ambled off, grumbling to himself. She wondered vaguely whether she should offer to patch up his jacket – it was already looking a bit threadbare, but now there were three long tears in the fabric from where Ninetales had raked him. _Ninetales!_

"_Don't you want to see what's under my jacket?"_

"_What about Maisie?"_

_Damn that fox._ Eve had been so glad to be finally out of the Deepwoods that she hadn't really thought about the incident until her head hit the pillow that night. She couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if Josh hadn't seen through Ninetales' illusion. What if he'd been harbouring a crush on her since Azalea Town? She could be accidentally leading him on, and that wouldn't be fair. _Damnit. _She liked being able to hang out in pyjamas! _That would be first to go_, Eve thought ruefully.

What Eve really wanted to do was to ignore the whole issue in the hope that it would somehow resolve itself. But that was damn silly, and Joys aren't damn silly. _Doing nothing changes nothing._

"One buizel per trainer, otherwise free catch zone," Josh said, startling Eve out of her reverie. "Everything ok?"

_You can't put it off forever._

"Um, Josh … can we talk? For a while?"

"Of course, bud. What's up?"

Eve took a deep breath. "About yesterday. When Maisie was, _pretending_ to be me you didn't exactly … say no."

Josh couldn't meet her eyes, and just stared at the tabletop. _Eve you idiot! What did you ask him that for?_

"Bear with me. These thoughts are complicated," he said, after about a century. "I was thinking so many things. Part of me wanted to run. I might have done just that but … a stronger part of me didn't want to hurt your feelings. And then a small part of me was saying 'Go for it!'. I didn't know _what _to do. It was all very sudden, and all those provocative little comments just … well, they just made me very nervous."

"Oh," Eve said. _Ohmigosh he's talking and I didn't screw everything up!_ "That's actually kinda sweet. Complicated, but sweet. Did I really make you that nervous?"

"I'm not used to this sort of thing, Eve."

_Wait a minute. _Nervous, not used to sexy talk, wanted to run away. Two plus two makes four. "You haven't done it before, have you?" she said quietly. Josh hesitated, as if reluctant to answer, "I'm not going to make fun of you," Eve added.

"… no. No, I haven't. It doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that other people think I should be bothered by it."

"I don't think it should bother you," Eve said. Josh gave her an appreciative half-smile.

"Um, sweetling? You haven't really answered my question. I saw you looking," she said pointedly.

"Eve, I'm so sorry about that, I mean I didn't realise it was you and -"

"Josh, Josh, Josh," Eve cut in. "I'm not angry with you. I just want to know how you feel about me."

Josh paused to think again before he answered. "Eve, I need you to believe me when I say I honestly haven't been stealing glances at you. Yeah, I find you attractive. But I find you attractive because you're so confident and passionate, you know? So when you were apparently in front of me with your top unzipped I, I couldn't help but …" he trailed off, blushing fiercely. "Now I've had space to think, I know I want to be near you. As your friend."

Eve laughed with relief. "That's great!" she said, and meant it. "That's really great."

Josh drummed his fingers on the plastic tabletop. "I didn't see a lot, you know," he said shyly. "Just a bit of cleavage."

"I suppose I should consider it a compliment that you couldn't resist taking a peek," Eve joked, winking roguishly at him.

"You shut up, you," he chided, but he was half-smiling at her anyway. "We're ok, right?"

"Yeah," Eve said as encouragingly as she could. "I'm not blaming you. Frankly I'd rather that damn Ninetales hadn't flashed you, but you've never made me feel objectified. I know you're not staring at my butt every time I turn my back on you. And if you want us to be even then you can lose the jumper and show me those pecs."

"Alright, I know a wind up when I hear it! Get your Pokédex out, we've got captures to plan."

Eve giggled and slid her Pokédex across the table. She felt oddly tired, like she'd run a mental mile. But it was the content feeling in her chest she noticed the most, and hadn't felt for a long time.


	18. Gotta Catch 'Em All

**Chapter Fifteen – Gotta Catch 'Em All**

_**Joshua**_

A cloud of fog covered White Lake like pale velvet. It stubbornly lingered even this late into the afternoon, transforming the landscape into a ghostly watercolour. The air was chilly, and damp. Moisture beaded in their hair – Eve was crowned with a scattering of silvery drops – mud squidged underfoot with play-doh consistency. Josh could only just make out the far northern shore of the lake through the mists – closer to on the western side of the lake, the dark fringes of the Ilex Deepwoods loomed suspiciously out of the fog.

Cold water dripped off Josh's curls and down the back of his neck. He swung the fishing rod he'd hired onto his shoulder. Suddenly a wail of pain and anguish tore through the silence. It was the cry of some lonely and evil creature, a cry that froze the blood and thrust a dagger into the heart. Blank terror seized him. His heart jolted, trying simultaneously to skip a beat and beat twice as fast.

But then the wail changed into a delighted laugh, and the sudden terror drained away as quickly as it had manifested. Josh spun around – behind him, what appeared to be a disembodied head hovered in mid-air, dark blue with long locks of hair floating in an imaginary breeze. Its large eyes were scarlet with yellow sclerae, with what looked like a string of red pearls hanging around its neck.

The pokémon, whatever it was, was laughing as gleefully as if it had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Then, without warning, it melted away into the fog.

"What the hell was that?" Josh demanded of the world in general.

"Some sort of Ghost-type," Eve said breathlessly. "Quite a scream, huh?" She looked more amused than annoyed, laughing off her own nasty shock. Josh sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose. He reminded himself that it would be worth the cold and damp – and screaming - to be able to tell Dad that he'd made several hundred dollars in one day.

They pitched their tents near to the water's edge, on the driest ground they could find. Josh cast his line into the weedy shallows to the left of their camp, with Screwball waiting patiently by his side. Every now and again it would start to wander off, only to come right back as soon as it was called. If it was disobedience, then it was a weird kind of disobedience. Josh was beginning to think that Screwball simply forgot what it was supposed to be doing every now and again.

Eve's set-up was considerably more sophisticated. She was using her own telescopic rod down by the deeper water to the right of their camp. With the kind of casual preparedness that Josh was coming to expect of Eve, she already had a small selection of lures to choose from. Eve, however, wasn't using a hook. Instead, the end of her line was hung with a proximity sensor and a reduced Net Ball.

While Eve patiently cast and reeled in her lure, Josh was reminded of why he'd never really liked angling. For one thing, he wasn't very good at it. This damn lake seemed to be full of nothing but remoraid. Every time he reeled in a bite there'd be another pistol fish flapping around on the end. There was a familiar tug on the line, and Josh promptly yanked back. Whatever he'd hooked immediately panicked and started thrashing around aimlessly. He reeled it in without much enthusiasm. _Oh look. Another remoraid._

"You again! Didn't I hook you an hour ago?"

The remoraid flailed around and made 'Omp! Omp!' noises at him. "Go on, get!" he sighed, sending it back into the lake with a flick of his rod.

"_Ha-haaa! _Up you come!" Eve whooped from her spot further down the shore, her reel whirling madly. The Net Ball on the end of the line erupted from the water, bouncing and jiggling. The furious pokémon escaped just as Eve managed to swing it ashore. A sleek orangey-brown pokémon landed heavily on the grass, twin-tailed with a wide yellow collar around its neck.

"Bui-bui!" it growled, baring its teeth. Lyra was already airborne and ready to battle, her gauzy wings churning the fog.

"Mach Punch!" Eve commanded.

"Diii-an!" Lyra cried, shooting forwards. The wild buizel stood up on its hind legs and blasted out a Water Gun. Lyra spun round so the Water Gun splashed off her wing cases. She spun back around and changed her attack into an Air Cutter. Her attack lacerated Buizel's belly, throwing it off its feet.

Buizel recovered quickly, dropping down to all fours. It threw itself into a bounding run, building momentum and leaping high into the air. Neither Eve nor Lyra reacted – until Lyra intercepted at the last moment with a stinging Mach Punch, pitching Buizel back down into the mud.

"Al-_right_, Lyra!" Eve called. "Go Dive Ball!"

Eve made the throw look so _easy_. The Dive Ball snapped up the buizel, wobbled half-heartedly, and pinged shut.

"Yea-heh-eeah!" Eve crowed. "Payday for little Eve! Uh-huh. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Uh-huh."

Josh tried to ignore Eve's excessive celebrations, gazing resentfully across the lake. Something was cruising purposefully out there – Josh thought he caught sight of red spines and a smirking mouth. _Was that a totodile?_

"Right," Josh growled, throwing down his rod. "Come on, Screwball. Let's make a catch _our_ way."

* * *

An industrious twenty minutes later, Josh was kneeling behind a handy bush, watching a pile of chicken giblets. Somewhere in that heap of squishy meat was a Net Ball Josh had hidden as a straightforward trap. _Hah! To hell with fishing._ _A good squeeze of raw meat juices into the water should be enough to attract the attention of a passing buizel._

"Right, Screwball. There's a good chance this won't be a straight-up catch, so if this doesn't work -" Josh realised that Screwball was staring off into space. Well, it always stared off into space, but this time it wasn't paying attention.

"Hey. Screwball. Focus," Josh said, rapping it sharply on the head.

"Mag?"

"Right. So if it escapes then you hit it with Thunder Wave, then Thundershock. Repeat it back to me."

"Magnemite. Mag. Mag."

"Right -"

A harrowing wail ripped through the fog, blank terror seized him, his heart skipped a beat –

The mystery Ghost-type was back and screaming happily about two feet away from Josh's ear, rolling its red-and-yellow eyes dramatically. Josh flailed at it with the butt of the Capture Spear, realising a bit too late that there was no point. It just laughed at his fury and embarrassment and faded away.

"Magnemite!" Screwball said urgently. Josh spun round to see what Screwball was looking at and hurriedly ducked behind the bush. A submerged pokémon was heading towards the pile of assorted giblets.

A small crocodilian pokémon emerged from the lake. _I knew it was a totodile! _It eagerly scuttled up to the trap on all fours. _Come on. You know_ _you want to bite it. _The totodile let out a croaky cry and happily chomped down. There was a flash of red, and the astonished totodile was sucked into the hidden Net Ball.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Josh crowed, leaping to his feet. "Suck it, Eve!" he yelled down the shore. "Told you it would work – oh, heads up Screwball."

The Net Ball's capture lock failed, releasing the flailing totodile. It caught sight of Screwball and opened its maw wide, displaying rather a lot of teeth. Screwball just stared back. Unperturbed, the totodile kept on trying to intimidate Screwball – that is, until Screwball blasted it with a crackling tangle of Thunder Wave bolts.

Totodile hissed and flailed at the red-and-blue sparks crackling over its scales. It spewed a short blast of Water Gun, hitting Screwball's body dead centre.

"Magnurrr …" it slurred, drifting drunkenly. Totodile leapt teeth-first and bit down triumphantly on one of its magnets. It grumbled and muttered indistinctly, apparently pleased with itself._ Come on Screwball, you know what to do!_

A long spark snapped lazily off Screwball's body. Josh smiled with satisfaction, just before his magnemite hit totodile with a Thundershock right through the teeth. The totodile dropped into the mud, smoking gently.

Josh smartly stepped forward and jabbed the smouldering totodile with the Capture Spear. The Dive Ball mounted on the end almost immediately pinged shut. _Yes! I love these specialist Poké Balls._

"Ha-ha! Flash, snap, ping!" he shouted back to Eve. Even at this distance the fog made her look washed-out and hazy, "Payday for Mr Cook! See Eve, _that _is why I study!"

* * *

The night was cold, and damp. The view across the lake was velvety black. Here and there chinchou-lights glowed with ghostly bioluminescence, beautifully ethereal through the veil of fog. Down by the reeds Eve baited the lines for night fishing, while Josh sat in a pool of firelight, peacefully preparing a chicken with his favourite knife. He roughly spatchcocked it and secured it on newly whittled wooden skewers. After that, he combined salt, pepper, ginger and olive oil in a mug with a bit of lime juice for the seasoning. That mixture he rubbed thoroughly onto the meat before it went over the fire to roast.

It didn't take long for the smell of food to draw Eve back to camp. "What we having?" she asked eagerly.

"Chicken," Josh replied.

"All that extra weight for food? You're a fool, Joshua Cook," Eve teased.

"You'll be eating those words for dessert, Evelina Joy," he replied mildly. "And it wasn't that far to carry."

"We'll see," Eve said. "Can I help?"

"Well you can feed the pokémon and wash up some of the utensils."

By the time their various clamouring pokémon had been fed and returned to their Poké Balls, the chicken was cooked and cooling. Josh chopped it in half and handed Eve her piece. They ate it hot and steaming with chunks of seedy bread, unselfconsciously tearing it apart with their fingers.

"Ready to admit that I'm right yet, Evey?" Josh asked innocently.

Eve gave him an odd look. "Did you just call me a pokémon?"

"What?" Josh said. The words lined themselves up in his head – _Evey/Eevee_. "Oh. No! Sorry."

"Don't be so quick to say sorry. I didn't say I didn't _like_ it," Eve protested sheepishly.

"What?" Josh repeated. "Since when are you a girly-girl?"

"Hey! I have a feminine side. You just haven't seen much of it yet."

Josh shrugged inwardly. _Who am I to argue? _"Alright then, Eevee – ready to eat your words yet?"

"No. I haven't finished my chicken."

"Ugh," Josh sighed. "Looks like you're enjoying that. I think I'll take that as an admission."

"Mm-mn, no you won't, 'cause -"

"Too late, _Eevee!_" Josh cut in. Eve pulled a face at him, and went back to her chicken.

Later, Eve lay back on her sleeping bag, singing to herself. Josh sat in the shelter of his own tent, running an oiled cloth over his knife. It was the same one he'd bought from the steelsmith on Dewford Island. Strictly speaking there was no particular reason to carry this knife over a stainless steel belt knife, but Josh had always loved the simple beauty of his bowie. _What a craftsman that man was._ None of that Croconaw Dundee rubbish in his bowie knives – the knife Josh had bought was a dignified six inches long. He tilted the blade to catch the firelight. The blade was pattern-welded from a mix of carbon and aron steel – the process had left a pattern of ripples and whorls in the steel.

"I'm on a master quest, I want the whole world to see ..." Eve sang. She had a low, husky singing voice, "Is carrying a weapon a Mulberry Town thing?" she asked, wriggling round onto her stomach.

"Weapon? What, this?" Josh said, aghast. "This isn't a weapon, this is a multi-tool!"

Eve raised an eyebrow at him. "Ok, it's a multi-tool. Want to play a game for a while?"

"I'm not playing 'Never have I ever'. That's asking for trouble," he replied.

"Give me some credit. I've got a pack of cards. Brr. Let me put my hoodie on first, though."

Josh slipped the knife back into its scabbard with a disdainful sigh. _A weapon!_ He discreetly turned his back on the sight of Eve struggling into her hoodie dress. It was irrational, but he didn't really want to be reminded of her tits right now. _'I know what I want this evening.' _Josh tried to exile the image from his mind, instead busying himself with rummaging in his backpack.

He stoked up the fire while Eve shuffled the cards. She huddled up as close to the fire as she could without burning herself. "You build a good fire, but I'm still a bit chilly."

"Then you'll be glad that I brought this," Josh said, producing a small bottle. "Blackthorn Spirit, the finest single malt whisky within its price bracket. And a fine way to warm up on a cold night."

"Joshua Cook, are you trying to spoil me?" Eve said with a wink.

"Spoil you, nothing. If I was trying to spoil you I'd have asked you _your _favourite drink," Josh said. "Now give me your cup."

Eve laughed and threw him her mug. He poured them both a generous measure of whisky, with a splash of water to take the edge off. Eve pushed aside a cluster of assorted Poké Balls to make space for their game.

"The game," Eve announced, "is Crazy Eights."

"Are those tarot cards?" Josh asked. He sipped at his whisky and water, savouring the earthy fire of it, and the lingering smoky aftertaste.

"They're prettier than ordinary cards. Besides, the minor arcana has fifty-two cards in four suits anyway," Eve said, taking a draught of her own drink. "You know, this'd be great with cola."

"What! You can't put _cola_ in -"

Eve started giggling. "That was too easy, Josh. I'm kidding, you boy scout."

The first card was the knight of swords, roaring at the viewer with his sword raised. Josh tutted and played his eight of swords. "Err, coins," he said.

Eve promptly played her six of coins. "So what are you going to do with your money?"

"Hmm. You know, I don't really know. What about you?"

"I'm going to buy a TM. I know just the one: Drain Punch."

"Blast. Out of coins," Josh said. He ended up drawing another nine cards, "So why Drain Punch?"

"Lyra already knows Reflect and Protect. With an Iron Fist-assisted Drain Punch she'll be surprisingly durable," Eve said, playing her eight of cups. "Cups. You should invest in a TM yourself."

The knight of cups looked smugly at Josh from his card. "Hmm. Do you think Screwball would like learning a new move?"

Eve shrugged and played the equally smug queen of cups. "It's your pokémon. What move are you thinking of?"

"Don't know. Something more powerful than Thundershock," he said. Eve took a casual sip of her whisky and water. She played the nine of swords after Josh's queen of swords.

"I've only ever known one other girl to really enjoy whisky without cola," Josh said conversationally.

"Oh, sweetling," Eve said, winking lazily at him. "When will you learn that I'm an exceptional girl?"

* * *

By the time they'd started the second round Josh was feeling light-headed and content. Eve was thoroughly tipsy and smiling merrily. "Sinnoh," she said. "Defin'ly want to travel Sinnoh someday. Where d'you want to go? Come on, dream holiday, you can go anywhere."

"Anywhere? Then … Orange Islands. I like to be able to hear the sea," Josh said, remembering the drawn-out crash of waves on the shore.

"I thought you liked the forest?"

"I do. But it's the sea I really love," he said.

"Darkness settles on roofs and walls,

But the sea, the sea in darkness calls,

The little waves, with their soft, white hands,

Efface the footprints in the sands,

And the tide rises, the tide falls."

Eve gave him a long, thoughtful look. "You ever wanna confuse my mother, recite that in front of her," she said wryly. "Hey, you should go see Sinnoh too! Those high mountain forests by the fjords. I want to take the train journey there someday."

"I've heard of it. You know that line was one of Brunel's projects -"

A harrowing wail tore apart the quiet of the night. Josh's heart jolted and so did his arm, spraying half his whisky and water into the grass. The mystery Ghost-type appeared in the shadows, gleefully screaming its childish laugh. Its red-and-yellow eyes gleamed brightly in the firelight. _Right, that tears it!_

Josh searched furiously in the grass, seizing the first Poké Ball he could find and flinging it at the laughing pokémon. It wasn't until he started to throw that he realised how much the whisky was affecting his hand-eye co-ordination. By then it was too late, the Ball had left his hand and was tumbling in the vague direction of the mystery pokémon -

\- except, somehow, the Ball struck it on the forehead. The Ball opened in a flash of of red, snapped shut, and fell to the ground, rattling frantically. It bounced into the shadows, the button light flashing fretfully in the dark.

… _ping._

They stared at the quiescent Ball. "Huh," Josh said,."I'm not sure I meant to do that."

He got up unsteadily and retrieved the Ball. The top hemisphere was deep pink, with a heart design on the front. "Oh. It was the Love Ball."

"What're you going to do with it?" Eve asked, pouring herself another drink.

"Don't know," Josh said, sitting himself down. "I don't even know what 'it' is."

"Use my Poklédex. I mean Prokédex. Mmn. Gotta pee."

As Eve meandered off into the fog, Josh hunted out her Pokédex. The HANDY912i was about the size of a small notebook, slim, brushed-silver in colour, and well named. It occurred to Josh that he might soon be able to afford one of his own.

"Misdreavus, the Screech Pokémon," it droned. "Misdreavus loves to startle people at night with its screaming. It apparently absorbs fear as nourishment."

_That explains why the little bitch kept pestering me._ Misdreavus had a respectable moveset – Ominous Wind, Will o' Wisp, Future Sight …_ maybe I'll keep this one_, he thought muzzily.

"You are so lucky to have a cock," Eve declared, reappearing from the fog.

"... is that so?" Josh said, mystified.

"I could piss in any old bush if I had something to aim with."

Josh stared at his friend. Eve was swaying slightly. "Your head's full of Blackthorn Spirit, bud."

"I'm not that drunk. You're drunk, too."

"Yes, yes I am. But you're the one talking about cocks," he said bluntly.

"I'm not as think as you drunk I am," Eve insisted.

"You're as think as I drunk … er," Josh started. He reduced the Love Ball and tossed it into his tent. _I'll think about that in the morning._

* * *

Josh awoke to a cold morning and a vicious headache. Sour pain pressed down on his skull. His mouth was dry and tasted like he'd been eating PVA glue last night. Something warm and friendly was curled up by his waist, and he patted it vaguely.

"Nuurgh, gerroff," Eve complained. Josh pushed himself to his elbows and refocused – Eve was curled up into a loose ball, cuddling his leg earnestly. Her hair had somehow woven itself into a straw-like thatch during the night. He gingerly lay back down, too headachey to care about Eve tangled round his leg. _Why, precisely, did I do this to myself? _The events of last night floated through his aching head – it seemed like the stupidest thing he'd done was keep drinking that blasted whisky. Shoving Eve aside, he stumbled out of the tent in search of painkillers.

The painkillers eventually turned up in Eve's backpack. After medicating himself, he brought Eve a mug of water and a few tablets. "Come on, bud," he said gently. "Meds and water."

Eve groaned and made a noise that might have been a curse.

"At least take the painkillers," Josh persisted.

"Nuurgh! Let me die," Eve mumbled.

Josh sighed. He was in no mood for this. "Evelina Joy, if you don't take your medicine, then I'm going to have Magnemite screech in your ear. Now do as you're told."

Eve tried to glare at him. "I hate you."

Josh ignored her and set to improvising breakfast. Something had made off with what was left of the chicken during the night, which was just as well. There were a couple of handfuls of dried pasta in Eve's backpack. Josh sat in thought for a moment. _Why did I do this to myself? … ok, let's see what we can find._

Nearly an hour later he'd found more or less what he was looking for – a bunch of wild greens and a handful of fairy ring mushrooms, enough for a makeshift stew. After a while Eve emerged, looking at the food with a mixture of hunger and dismay.

"The pokémon been fed?" she asked.

"Not yet. Screwball's fine and Bulbasaur can graze. Oh … that reminds me."

The captured Misdreavus had found her way onto his belt during the night. He unsnapped the Love Ball from its clasp and stared at it pensively. Misdreavus was, well, she was an interesting pokémon. She was obviously a rare species, since Eve hadn't identified her right away, and between her typing and moveset she would make a useful addition to his team. But even so … there was something about the capture that bothered him. The capture had been a lucky one, really, and that didn't seem fair to Misdreavus.

He made up his mind. "Come on out, Bulbasaur."

Bulbasaur yawned and stretched. [Have fun last night?] he said drily.

"Very amusing. I might need you to translate for me."

[Fine,] Bulbasaur said, lying down in the grass. Josh released Misdreavus from the Ball. She smiled innocently at him, with none of the momentary confusion that Screwball used to show after re-materialising. Josh knelt down in front of her, to get down to a more or less equal level.

"Misdreavus," he said, "I'm giving you a choice. You can go free and become a wild pokémon again, or you can come with me and Bulbasaur."

He placed the Love Ball in the grass between them. Misdreavus looked at it, then at him, and then at Bulbasaur. "Miss?" she said.

[Yes,] said Bulbasaur. Misdreavus drifted over to the idle Love Ball. She blinked at it with her big, childish eyes.

"Misdreavus!" she said, and butted the button, smiling beatifically as she recalled herself. Josh let out a sigh – not of relief, as such, but more of contentment. Misdreavus had chosen to stay, for whatever reason. Something more was needed, though … a name. _What to call her? Ah. I know._

"Fionn."

* * *

Josh sipped at his stew, wondering vaguely about seasonings. Bulbasaur lay snuggled up close, in the same spot he'd occupied at his side for years.

"Do you think this would benefit from a bit of ginger?" he asked Eve.

Eve gave him a tired look. "It's fine, Josh. Ugh. How can you stand to eat?"

"I'm hungover, too, Eve. Trust me, you'll feel better with some food in you."

There was a soft splash from down by the shore. The silhouette of a pokémon appeared in the fog, vaguely fox-like with a long cetacean tail. It stalked closer, head held low.

"Vaporeon! Vaay," it growled.

"That's unlikely," Eve remarked.

[He's after your breakfast.]

"Go away," Josh warned. "I'm not in the mood."

Vaporeon's head snapped up – it fired a Water Gun right at him. Bulbasaur leapt in front of the spray and took the attack head on. He landed and shook himself dry. [Back off or else!] he barked.

"Hold back there, Bulbasaur," Josh commanded. His head was still throbbing, and he really didn't want to battle, but he wasn't about to let a wild pokémon bully him out of his breakfast either, "Alright Fionn, show me what you can do!"

"MIS-dreavus!" Fionn cried happily as she re-materialised.

"Bulbasaur, I might need your help," Josh said, "Fionn, Ominous Wind!"

"Miss?" Fionn said, looking round as if to say 'Who, me?'.

"Vay!" Vaporeon yipped, blasting out another Water Gun. Fionn casually phased out of the way, giving Vaporeon a look of kitten-like shock.

[Use your Ominous Wind! It's ok, Josh knows what he's doing!]

"Mis? Miss," Fionn said, breathing out a horizontal cyclone shot through with ribbons of ghostly purplish light. The vaporeon shuddered violently as if cold – Fionn laughed and faded away. _Damnit! Where the hell did she disappear to?_ Josh scanned the fog, trying to catch sight of Fionn's floating locks.

Vaporeon switched its attention to Bulbasaur, tensing up for an attack. Fionn reappeared behind it and shrieked, startling Vaporeon so badly that it had to scrabble to keep its footing.

_So that's what it looks like happening to someone else._ "Good, Ominous Wind, again!"

But Fionn didn't use Ominous Wind – in fact, she didn't seem to do anything. Vaporeon seized its chance, whipping round like a stung cat. A wavering beam of unearthly green light shot from its mouth, bathing Fionn in a strange rippling glow. Fionn screamed in pain and alarm. _Aargh, my head, my damn head!_

"Fionn, good try! Return," Josh commanded, plucking his pokémon out of harm's way with the recall beam, "Bulbasaur -"

[Battle's on!] Bulbasaur finished. Vaporeon whipped round to face Bulbasaur again, snarling at him. Bulbasaur growled back, a low growl that said he was prepared to finish whatever Vaporeon started.

"Vine Whip," Josh ordered. Bulbasaur lashed out quickly, striking Vaporeon smartly in the face. It retaliated with a full-force Water Gun – Bulbasaur ignored it and aimed a Vine Whip at its legs. Vaporeon changed tactics and tried a Quick Attack.

A cold wind blew from across the lake. Vaporeon sprang over Bulbasaur's scything vine – suddenly, a multi-coloured bolt of lightning struck down from nowhere. Vaporeon howled, haloed by the psychic blast. Josh's mind raced. _That's got to have been Future Sight. _He snatched up a spare Dive Ball. _Ready or not, you _will _be caught!_

His pitch was far from elegant, but the Ball hit Vaporeon on the tail nonetheless. It fought gamely, but ultimately unsuccessfully against the Dive Ball's capture lock.

… _ping!_

* * *

The air was bright and clear, with a pleasantly earthy smell. Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves, the woodland halls were warm and green. Josh leaned back against the young redwood and sighed contentedly. Somewhere nearby a wildwood stream chattered in its stony bed. Eve sat beside him, but otherwise they were alone in the woods.

"Beware the Sea!

If thou hearest the cry of the gull on shore,

Thy heart shall rest in the forest no more," Eve recited.

"Too late," Josh murmured.

There was a thoughtful pause.

"I've realised something," Eve said quietly.

Josh lazily turned to look at her. "What's that, bud?"

Eve winked at him. "Carpe diem."

She kissed him suddenly and enthusiastically. He found himself kissing her back. Eve ran her fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck, and he took the cue to move his hand to her waist. _I can't believe I'm getting away with this. _Her tongue slipped into his mouth – he panicked, and pulled away hastily.

"Why'd you stop?" Eve asked petulantly. Josh said nothing, but she somehow understood anyway. "Stop trying to keep up with me. Just let go," she said. She gently but firmly pushed him onto the carpet of leaf litter with a smile that was both desirous and reassuring; this time Josh relaxed and hoped for the best. Before he knew it, his hand found its way under her shirt – she wasn't wearing any underwear. The sound of an alarm clock echoed through the forest like birdsong.

"I want my coffee," Josh said.

He opened his eyes, and surfaced from the dream. For a fleeting moment he wondered where he was. _I'm at Len Town Pokémon Centre. It's Wednesday morning. I was at White Lake yesterday._ He reached out muzzily and cancelled the alarm. The memory of the dream crystallised in his mind. A fierce blush rose to his cheeks. For some reason he felt acutely guilty, which was irrational because it's not like he actually _had_ felt Eve up. Dreams were surreal, and Josh knew he had no control over them.

That logical train of thought didn't help much.

"Hey lazybones," Eve said, making Josh jump a little. She was already awake and sitting up in the bed opposite, "You ok?" she added, giving him a concerned look.

"Bad dream," he said. "Nothing to worry about."

That was true, after a fashion. Eve didn't have to worry about his dreams – whatever happened in his sleep, Josh wasn't going to let bleed over into the waking world.


	19. Future Sight

**Chapter Sixteen – Future Sight**

_**Joshua**_

North of Len Town, Eskershire gave way to historic Sandonshire. The shire was named for the castle town of Sandham on the east coast, encompassing Route 32 and the countryside north-east of Len Town up to the Ruins of Alph. Small towns and villages dotted the farmland; stone circles stood on the odd isolated hilltop.

Walking along the Sandonshire lanes was easy going after hiking down the Ilex Forest trainer's trails. Josh and Eve village-hopped, eating at village pubs and staying the nights at amateur bed-and-breakfasts. Usually, there was someone in each village who was prepared to put up passing trainers in a spare room in exchange for a few dollars. On the third day they pitched their tents in a small field just outside the village of Hunter's Green. It was one of those rare evenings where the setting sun gilded the edges of honey-coloured clouds and washed the landscape in golden light.

Fionn lurked in the shade of Josh's tent. Being a Ghost-type, it wasn't healthy for her to be out in the bright sunlight for long. She was, in many ways, the opposite of Screwball. She had a childish, gregarious temperament that was easy to read compared with Screwball's range of stares. Her sociable nature was most noticeable at dusk, when she'd harass him for sweets and play Tag with Bulbasaur.

Through sparring matches, Josh had discovered that his misdreavus liked battling with a trainer, up to a point. She followed commands enthusiastically, so long as she was commanded to battle capriciously. Fionn loved using tricks and traps; when Josh insisted on chess-game tactics she sulked for the rest of the day. But it was Bulbasaur who was responsible for a lot of Fionn's transition from a wild to a domestic pokémon. He'd started treating her as a protégé, teaching her, cajoling her, chiding her. At the moment he lay basking in the evening sun, keeping one watchful eye on her.

Josh was reading a book – well, he was trying to. Eve kept pacing and prowling about. Every couple of minutes she'd sit down and browse her Pokédex or something, only to sit and fidget noisily until she eventually leapt up again. The sight of her constantly crossing his peripheral vision was becoming increasingly distracting.

When Eve threw herself down for the umpteenth time Josh's temper finally snapped. "What the hell has got into you today?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Eve said guiltily. "Oh, I know! Let's work on your Poké Ball pitching!"

"No."

"Oh come on! Come on, boy scout, let's get active!"

"No! You're driving me nuts, I'm going for a walk," Josh said, quickly recalling his pokémon.

"For how long?"

"I don't know. About an hour?" Josh said, grabbing the Capture Spear – well, it functioned just as well as a walking stick – and starting away across the field.

"_About_ an hour?"

"Fine, an hour!"

"_Really_ an hour?" Eve called after him almost anxiously.

"_Eve!_"

* * *

The sign at the fork in the lane read:

Whittington – 4m

Hunter's Green – ½m

Great Bottom – 3m

Josh strolled down the lane towards the village, humming quietly to himself. Truth be told, Eve's incessant fidgeting had been annoying him all day. At times like this he missed the solitary journey through Johto. _Maybe an hour apart will do us both good._ He stopped by the village green, a wide triangle of grass, punctuated with thick clusters of nodding daffodils. Most of the village stood around the green, including the pub and the corner shop.

All this would have been entirely usual for rural Johto, if it weren't for the harlequin girl.

She gestured extravagantly, gracefully, like a dancer. A scattering of white feathers were twined into her jet black hair, and she wore a catsuit of bright red-and-green diamond checks. She was calling in a silvery voice:

"Come and see, oh you must come and see! Oh, what sights there are to see! Things that are and things that have been! Things that are yet to be seen!"

She spotted him from across the green, and literally danced over to him. Up close she was strikingly pretty. "Take a chance and come with me!" she declared. "The price of admission is not-yet-free! Come and see, oh you _must_ come and see!"

For a moment Josh was tempted to tell her to go away, but then he did have an hour to kill. "Oh, alright. I will come and see," he said, indulging her wearily.

Josh followed the dancing, cartwheeling harlequin girl through the village. On the other side of the village, partially screened from sight by a stand of poplars, there was a velvety-black circus tent pitched in the middle of a field. A xatu perched atop the central pole, sitting as still as if it had been carved from oak. Just as Josh entered the tent, it suddenly spread its wings.

"Xaaa …" it droned.

Inside, a heavy black curtain sparkling with star designs separated an atrium from the main tent. Another pair of harlequins stood on either side of the curtain; one was tall and saturnine, the other jowly and vaguely sinister. Both wore red-and-green checks, with cloaks of white feathers and beaked yellow face masks.

"He has come to see," Harlequin Girl said.

"So he shall see," said Sinister.

"Ten dollars is the fee," said Saturnine. They spoke with rapid-fire delivery, each speaking almost immediately after the other.

"You haven't even told me what the attraction is yet," Josh pointed out, making no move towards his wallet.

"Things that are," said Sinister.

"Things that have been," said Harlequin Girl.

"Things that are yet to be seen," said Saturnine.

Josh sighed. "Alright, fine. But if I don't like it I _will_ get my money back."

* * *

It was pitch dark beyond the curtain. Josh took a couple of experimental steps forward. His boots rang loud on what sounded like wooden flooring. Light flooded in from above, like the sun rising in the space of a few seconds.

Josh found himself in a round hall. The walls were smooth, white marble lined with polished ebony doors. The floor was red mahogany, liable to be scratched up by the hobnails in his boots. Josh looked up at the ceiling – the evening light spilled in through an elaborate rose-shaped skylight.

_That can't be right._ Even if those harlequins were mad enough to pitch a tent around the hall, the skylight should be obscured by the top of the tent. _How real is this place? Am I dreaming again?_

"Does it really matter?" a voice said from behind him. A jolt of sharp surprise shot through him - Josh reflexively spun round and brought the Capture Spear down hard. The dry hazel smashed in half with a splintery crack.

The young man straightened up, unharmed. "You proud of yourself?" he said irritably. Josh sighed, just as irritably. The young man was his exact double, minus the Spear and Poké Balls. Josh immediately gave him a critical look.

"I know what you're thinking," the other Josh said hurriedly. "I'm no pokémon."

Josh stared at his doppelgänger, thinking. "... the xatu. This isn't real, is it?"

"It's an illusion," the other Josh admitted. "As for 'real', well, it would be more accurate to say that this isn't a _usual_ place. It may as well be real for you."

_If he's telling me that this is an illusion then it can't be much of a trap._ "Then who are you?" he said.

"I am you. More or less. Thanks to Xatu I know enough about this place to be your guide. But you already knew that."

Josh paused for a moment. He was about to object when he noticed that he really did already know this – the knowledge appeared in his head like sudden realisation. "I know this, because Josh knows this," he said drily. Other-Josh shrugged non-committally.

"So … what happens now?" Josh asked, half-hoping that the answer would be 'nothing'. The light that flooded in through the skylight gilded the marble with subtle shades of gold.

"Try a door," Other-Josh said.

Josh wandered over to a door at random, his boots ringing loud on the mahogany flooring. The polished ebony gleamed at him; there was a brass doorknob in the centre. He hesitated briefly, then swung the door open.

It opened outwards, onto a crowded lecture theatre. Tiers of seats descended to a podium surmounted by a huge electronic whiteboard displaying a kaleidoscope of artwork depicting the Silver Wing. Hundreds of students packed the theatre, most of them scribbling or typing away. The professor, down by the podium, was teaching with the aid of a laser pointer.

"... and so despite continued fascination with the Silver Wing down the ages, it remains more of an object of myth and legend than of science," the professor continued, his voice amplified by a microphone clipped to his tie. He was wearing a white gilet covered with pockets rather than the usual lab coat. There was something oddly familiar about the man.

Then it hit him. The professor was himself – about twenty years older, with slim, distinguished-looking glasses and grey hair, but definitely, recognisably himself.

"... right, that's your lot for today. Get out, get studying," his older self said curtly. "And don't think I don't know about the campus party!" he shouted over the the noise of the leaving students. "The bar will be set _high!_ I suggest you crack open a book and _not_ a beer!"

Josh carefully closed the door. The noise of the lecture theatre immediately cut off, and the hush of the hall returned. He thoughtfully wandered over to another random door. Behind it, there was a field under a night sky. Another older version of himself sat by a campfire, attended by a gaggle of scouts in uniform. His older self had their complete attention.

"Your knife is a tool, the most useful tool you'll own," he was saying. "It is not – Evans – a weapon, and you will _not_ dishonour it by treating it as such."

"What are these?" Josh asked.

"Futures," Other-Josh said. "They could be your future."

Josh watched his older self teach knife safety, and smiled a little. "Do these doors show what will happen, or what _might _happen?"

"Yes," Other-Josh replied.

"Yes, alright, I walked into that one," Josh snapped, reluctantly closing the door. "You know damn well what I meant."

Other-Josh half-smiled at him. "They all have potential. Any of these futures could be yours, if you want it."

Josh methodically scanned the hall. There were eleven doors in total. _Eleven doors. Eleven potential futures. Hmm._ He experimentally opened the next door along.

On the other side of this door, there was a battle.

A drab khaki jeep hurried down a dirt path by a strip of woodland, followed by a motorcyclist. In the flatbed behind the jeep sat a man in a leather jacket next to a crate full of Poké Balls. Suddenly, a bellowing rhyhorn thundered out onto the path – the driver swerved hard and ended up skidding right into it with a crash. A squad of pokémon rangers burst from the trees, one riding a ponyta – a ranger vaulted off the rhyhorn – converged on the stricken jeep in grim silence. The motorcyclist sped off down the path.

"Jenny!" one of the rangers shouted, his bronze sergeant's oak leaf flashing on his epaulette. The mounted ranger flipped a salute and galloped off after the motorcycle.

The man in the leather jacket leapt off the flatbed. There was a foot long machete in his fist. He charged the sergeant with a savage yell, chopping wildly down. The sergeant calmly drew his baton and blocked the slash in one sweeping movement. His free hand shot up and seized the man's wrist. His adversary started to throw a punch – the sergeant simply brought his baton down onto his fist.

"Drop your weapon!" the sergeant commanded. The man struggled and earned himself a sharp blow on the forearm. He howled, and the machete slipped from his fingers.

"On your knees! _On your knees!_"

Maybe it was the threat of the baton, but the man seemed to realise that the game was up. The sergeant wrestled him to the ground and snapped a set of cuffs on his wrists. "I'm arresting you on suspicion of pokémon poaching," he said methodically. "You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be given as evidence in a court of law."

The other rangers had the man's companions subdued and cuffed. The sergeant pulled off his field cap, revealing a tired, stern face – a familiar tired face.

"You're telling me I could be good enough to be a pokémon ranger? That I could make it to Ranger _Sergeant?_" Josh said pessimistically. "Really, me?"

"Why not?" Other-Josh said. "You're focusing too much on the physical side. Rangers have to possess intelligence, patience, integrity … now who does that sound like?"

Josh was quiet for a moment. Sergeant Cook was confidently giving a fresh round of commands. At his direction the rhyhorn rider mounted up – another Ranger gave each of the prisoners a drink. Josh thought about the way his older self had arrested the machete-wielding man with perfect sangfroid. It rather strongly reminded him of Lorelei's battle composure._ Divination is fine, but how am I supposed to know what to do to get there?_

"This place is a compass, not a map," Other-Josh said. "What you do with this knowledge is your business. And in any case, didn't you start this journey to find out what you want to do with your life? Come. Try this door."

The next door was another third of the way round the hall. Josh shrugged, and pulled it open. This one opened onto a bright forest clearing. It reminded him of the Heartwoods – at the far side there was an immense oak, the finest _Quercus robur _that Josh had ever seen. A wedding was taking place beneath it, rows of folding chairs occupied by guests before it, portable hokora for the spiritual guests on either side of the tree. Josh knew enough by now to look for his older self, scanning though the guests.

But he wasn't seated with the guests – his older self was standing in front of the tree, shifting nervously from foot-to-foot. He was dressed fairly simply in shades of dark brown and green, with a circlet of oak leaves on his head in what must be a reluctant acknowledgement of the forest spirits. _Am I really going to start going grey that young? _His future self didn't look much older than thirty, but already his hair was salted with grey.

A voice in the back of his mind kept prodding him to pay attention. He scanned the scene again. More than half of the guests on the left hand side had bright pink hair.

He looked round at Other-Josh in the hall behind him, who just shrugged cryptically. When he looked back, the scene had skipped. An older version of Eve stood with his older self by the tree, proud and beautiful in white silk, crowned with miniature white roses. As Josh watched, she leapt at his older self to kiss him, knocking his leafy circlet askew.

"What do you think?" Other-Josh asked.

"... I don't know," Josh said.

"Liar. How do you expect to figure out what you want if you won't even be honest with yourself?"

Josh didn't look around. He was still watching the scene through the door, and thinking. Not content with just the one, the future Eve enthusiastically kissed his older self again just as he was trying to straighten his circlet.

"If … if this was my fate, rather than my choice … I wouldn't be unhappy."

"But do you want that future?"

"No. No, I meant what I said to her the other day, but … why did I dream about her?"

"Why did you enjoy it?"

"What?"

"Just indulge me. Think about it; why did you enjoy the dream?"

Josh took a deep breath. His thoughts went first to Ninetales, disguised as Eve in the Deepwoods. The memory still made him nervous. He'd never felt so out of his depth as he had then, and never so vulnerable. That ninetales had a predatory glint in her eyes that her illusion just couldn't conceal – somehow, it was worse than being confronted by an ursaring in the Heartwoods. The dream Eve though … the dream Eve was certainly assertive, but she felt safe. The dream Eve cared that he had his insecurities.

"I like Eve a lot," he said eventually. "I like cooking for her. I like holding her. I like the way she squeezes me. I liked kissing her in the dream, but not because I want to kiss the real Eve. Er … does that even make sense?"

"Yes," Other-Josh said. "Look, Eve likes you. You know damn well she likes your cooking. She often demands a hug from you before bed. Forget about Ninetales and forget about the dream. Neither of those things matter. What matters is how you _know _you feel about her."

Josh looked back at the future. His older self had picked his new wife up. Rather incongruously, she was wearing white hiking boots.

"She does look beautiful in white," Josh said admiringly.

"Yes she does," Other-Josh agreed.

_Well, it was nice to have seen this_, Josh thought, closing the door carefully. In that moment, he realised that it was time he divorced the concept of a crush from liking Eve in a – what would be the word? - platonic way. _Forget about Ninetales and forget about the dream. _Josh still had no intention of thinking about the dream any further, much less telling Eve about it. Ninetales had, ironically, brought them closer together. Even so, Josh didn't feel comfortable thinking of her in a sexual way.

_Eleven doors, eleven futures._ "You know, I think I've seen enough," Josh said slowly.

"Are you sure?" Other-Josh said. "There are seven doors you haven't opened yet."

"I have enough to go on … I'm not convinced that more omphaloskepsis would help. And I should be getting back."

Other-Josh pointed towards one end of the hall, the direction Josh had originally entered in. There was a heavy black curtain hanging there. "That way will take you back out," Other-Josh said. "Be seeing you."

"Next time I look in the mirror," Josh replied to his double.

* * *

Josh pushed his way through the curtain. He found himself back in the atrium at the front of the main tent. The harlequins were gone, to Josh's lack of surprise. Somehow, he'd expected it. He sauntered back down the lane towards Hunter's Green, and only then noticed that he was still carrying a broken length of hazel. He tossed it into a hedge, and walked back through the village.

By the time he reached the campsite, the sun had set and twilight had fallen. Eve was sitting by the fire with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Someone's pleased with herself," Josh drily remarked.

"You could say that," Eve said contentedly. She looked so dippily content that he couldn't help but smile a little.

"I brought beer," he said, tossing Eve a can. He snapped open one himself and dropped down next to her.

"So where have you been?" Eve asked.

"Off thinking," Josh paused for a moment. "Eevee, do you think I'd make a good teacher?"

"I think you'd make a good Gym Leader," Eve said casually.

"A Gym Leader?"

"You could take over the Florando Gym and specialise in Grass-types," Eve caught sight of Josh's expression. "Oh. I'm sorry Josh, was that a serious question?"

"Yeah … I'm just thinking about the future."

Eve took a contemplative draught of her beer. "I can actually see you as a Gym Leader, you know. They have to be teachers as well as trainers," she added.

"They also have to be great trainers," Josh countered out of habit.

"So? Who says you can't be,"" Eve said. "Honestly, Josh, I don't think you have natural talent. What _you _are is stubborn and clever and that counts for more than just natural talent," she paused for a breath and a cooling sip. "So what I'm saying is that I believe you are good enough if you want to be."


	20. Violet City

**Chapter Seventeen – Violet City**

_**Joshua**_

Eve was in a mood.

"Prince of sodding Tricks indeed!"

"Will you give it a rest?"

"You _pushed _me in!"

"It's the Trick House! You're supposed to play tricks! Besides, you still took second place, didn't you?"

Eve pulled a face at him. Earlier that day they'd come across the Trick House. The Trick House appeared every year on tour from Hoenn, though no-one ever really knew where it would appear. This year the House featured a sailing segment at the end of the course – the King of Tricks had howled with delight when Josh sabotaged the other boats and pushed Eve into the lake halfway across.

"Traitor," Eve said accusingly. Josh wished the bus would turn up. Eve had been calling him things like that for the past twenty minutes.

"Eve, we couldn't both win," he said wearily. "And that's 'Traitor, Your Highness', thank you."

"Since when are you a fan of airs and titles?"

"Hey, hey! I earned this crown!"

Eve snatched at the absurd plastic crown the King of Tricks had given him; Josh swatted her away with difficulty. They were still squabbling half-heartedly when the bus to Violet City arrived.

* * *

Violet Castle looked down on the city from the summit of a steep hill. The city spread south and west along the ancient Ecruteak road like a broad river of slate-tiled roofs. Along the streets, the lampposts were lighting up with a soft yellow glow. The Industrial Revolution had passed the town by, as had the Commercial Revolution after it. People came for the nineteenth-century architecture in the uncluttered city centre, for the Violet City Gym, to see Sprout Tower and Violet Castle. Violet City was very much a tourist town.

It was another couple of hours before the bus pulled into the terminus next to the Magnet Train Station. Josh could tell that Eve didn't really want to stay at the Pokémon Centre. Instead they headed round to the Silver Hind Inn on the south side of Castle Hill, away from the noise and bustle of the city centre. The inn itself was an old building, renovated and modernised. It was relatively inexpensive, but Josh convinced the manager to cut a slice off the cost of the room anyway – she, in turn, appeared to be determined to fill the room rather than lose any business to her rivals.

After dinner, Josh stepped out to the inn's hot spring to unwind. The spring was an elegant rectangle overhung with cheri trees, their boughs hung with coppery leaves and ivory white flowers. He gingerly waded into the steaming waters, settling down at the far end, where the occasional pale petal fluttered down from the foliage. He took a long, slow breath, savouring the quiet and the heat drawing the tension from his body.

His thoughts idly turned to the imminent Gym battle. The Violet City Gym was a Flying-type Gym; and that posed an awkward problem. In theory Screwball should be able to dominate the Gym, but Josh had a deep suspicion that the Leader would have a counter-strategy for Electric-types … and he wasn't convinced that Fionn was ready for a Gym battle either.

"See Case, I told you there'd be no-one around," a boisterous voice drawled. Josh's head snapped up. _Oh no. I recognise that voice._

Tyler Bradshaw sauntered out into the garden, smiling like a meowth in an unguarded dairy and – _oh bloody hellfire!_ \- not using his modesty towel.

Tyler noticed Josh sitting in the hot spring. "Hey, I know you!" he said. "Casey, check it out! I crushed this guy a couple of weeks back!"

A girl appeared from somewhere behind Tyler, haphazardly wrapped in a towel. Her body appeared to be built out of gentle curves - something that was all too apparent through the thin towel – but with unstyled black hair and bored, half-lidded eyes.

"Hey, hey!" Josh objected, both annoyed and embarrassed. "Single gender here, push off!"

An expression of indignant disdain creased Casey's exquisite face. She shrugged lazily at Tyler and headed back inside.

"Quite the buzzkill, ain't ya," Tyler said, striding out into the spring. "So trainer, you got any better yet?"

"We've got better," Josh said shortly, trying not to pay him much attention. He was beginning to wish he wasn't so naturally observant.

"Yep, I got three Badges now," Tyler said, stretching methodically. "How 'bout you, trainer, you manage to win a Badge yet?"

"Bradshaw, either sit down or use your damn towel! I didn't travel this far to look at another man's gizmo!"

Tyler just laughed and spread his arms. "Hot is hot, trainer! You don't have to be queer to appreciate it," He threw himself down in a corner of the spring. "Speaking of which, you shouldn't'a got rid of Casey. She has great C's."

"I'm sure she has," Josh said dismissively.

Tyler was quiet for a moment. Josh closed his eyes and tried to let his thoughts wander. _How would Lorelei deal with an awkward type match-up?_

"So how much better _have_ you got?" Tyler said, abruptly derailing his train of thought.

Josh sighed, heavily._ So much for relaxation. _"Battle me and find out."

"You saying you want a rematch, trainer?" Tyler said, grinning at him. "After what happened last time?"

"Take it or leave it, Bradshaw. I've got plenty of things I could be doing."

"Alright, grommet, if you want to be blown out that bad," he laughed. "On one condition. It's gotta be a half-battle."

Josh paused for the briefest of moments. _Three-on-three … Fionn does need the practice._ "Fine."

"Well, alright then," Tyler said carelessly. "Tomorrow morning, at the Battle Club."

Josh drummed his fingers restlessly on the tiles. He decided to give up on the hot spring; the moment had been ruined, he wasn't going to be able to relax now. He retrieved his towel from the tiles and started to head back inside.

"Going already?" Tyler said.

"I've got work to do," Josh said shortly, trying to walk slantways, and wishing the towel was bigger.

"Hey trainer!" Tyler called after him. "You're a five outta ten back there, max. You should tone up those cheeks."

_Damn this small towel._

* * *

"Well! It's not been a good week for the PM." There was a peal of laughter from the studio audience. Josh was watching the TV, at least in theory. This evening he just wasn't in the mood. Eve was dragging a brush through her hair on the couch next to him.

"... that painfully choreographed attempt to eat a sausage roll like an Ordinary Fellow -"

Theirs was a double room; a sleeping alcove at either side, a small living area in between. Josh pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"What's up?" Eve asked. "This show had you in stitches last week."

"I guess it's been a long day."

"Maybe you should have spent more time at the spring – ow!" Eve said, tugging at a knot. "You're supposed to come back de-stressed."

"Couldn't relax. Bradshaw saw to that," he grumbled.

"Ow. Who's Bradshaw?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you, did I?" Josh said. "Bradshaw's this guy I battled on Route 33, the same morning we met in Azalea Town, as it happens. To sum it up, he was cocky – well, arrogant, really. A Dewford Gym student."

"Oh, that type – ow! Damnit!" Eve said.

"Eevee, let me help. You're going to rip your hair out that way," he said mildly. "I'll be gentle, trust me."

Eve protested vaguely, but handed over the hairbrush anyway. Patiently teasing the tangles out of Eve's hair was oddly relaxing, sanding off the edge of his bad mood. He told her about the battle, and Tyler's ungracious taunting afterwards.

"... so out he strolls, the salt-stained braggart, no towel, and proud of it. Turns out he remembers me and the battle both," he sighed. "Somehow I ended up challenging him to a rematch."

"Aww. Someone's finally getting competitive," Eve teased.

"I'd like to beat _him_. You know he actually rated my ass when I left the spring? Hey trainer, five outta ten!" he said, affecting Tyler's smug drawl. "I mean who does that at a hot spring – can you believe it?"

"Don't know. Strip your 'jamas off and I'll give you a second opinion."

"Eve!" Josh complained.

"Oh alright," Eve said. "I agree, it was a barbarous way to behave. Listen, why don't you borrow my Pokédex? Another string to your bow, huh?

"No … no, I want to win with my own skills and tools. But thank you."

"I understand," Eve said serenely.

Josh carried on running the brush through Eve's hair. After a while she closed her eyes, and he wondered if she was falling asleep.

"Josh, um …" Eve began, "I've got a favour to ask."

_Oh no. _"You're not getting a back rub as well," he joked.

Eve smiled weakly at him. "Listen, um … the Tigerlily Tourney's going to be held in Goldenrod City soon, and I want to compete in it."

"Well, sure, we can go to Goldenrod City next if you like," Josh said. "That's hardly a favour, though."

Eve went quiet again, either thinking or drowsy. "It's a women's tournament," she said. "The most prestigious women's tournament there is, really. No Joy has ever won it. I want to be the first."

"Then I'll support you to the end, bud."

"The problem is, after the heats the tourney is a Doubles tournament."

It steadily dawned on Josh that Eve was edging her way to asking her favour. "Eve … what are you suggesting?" Josh said carefully.

"Just hear me out," Eve said quickly. "We know each other's battle style, we get on well enough to act as a team … I don't have enough time to find and train with a new partner. I can't do it without you."

"Eevee …" Josh began in disbelief. He wouldn't have thought she was at all serious, were it not for her initial hesitancy.

Eve looked at him with tired blue eyes. "I know it's petty, but I really want to at least try and win," she said earnestly. "I want to win for the glory of it, to bring honour to the Joys for something _not_ to do with the professions. And my mother would _have_ to acknowledge it."

Josh's heart sank a little. He stroked her hair absently, forgetting the brush for a moment. Disappointing Eve was the last thing he wanted to do – but there were so many ways this madcap idea could go very badly wrong.

"Eevee, I'm sorry, I can't," he said reluctantly. "I wouldn't _dare_. Eve, think about it. You're asking me to convincingly pass as a girl."

"Oh," Eve said, crestfallen. Crestfallen, but with a kind of stoic resignation, "I knew it was a big ask." She gave him another tired smile.

There was a comfortable silence. "Do you want to finish your hair yourself?" Josh asked.

"Mm-mn," Eve replied.

Josh gave her a brief smile of his own. They didn't say anything for a while. They didn't need to.

* * *

The Battle Club field was an indoor battlefield, which was probably just as well. The morning outside was dull, and overcast. Josh stepped into the trainer's box, looking grimly up at the assembled spectators watching from the balconies - teenage trainers of varying ages for the most part. Casey was there, leaning languidly on the rail. Eve was off battling on another field, though she had offered to come and be his support.

He looked askance at the TV camera suspended from a web of four wires above the battlefield. As he watched it, it swivelled round and focussed on his expression. He supposed, reluctantly, that it was something he was just going to have to get used to. Pokémon battles were regularly televised, after all, from the Gyms as well as the Battle Clubs.

_Focus. Indomitable as a glacier. _He made himself take deep, regular breaths, tuning out the crowd and clearing his mind.

"Spectators! Trainers! Your attention please!" the club referee shouted, having taken his place. "This Club Battle between Tyler Bradshaw of Dewford Island and Joshua Cook of Mulberry Town is about to begin! Each trainer will use three pokémon and both may substitute freely!"

"You can still back out, trainer," Tyler said, grinning. Josh folded his arms and ignored him.

"Begin!"

"I know you're ready for this," Josh murmured. "Fionn! Battle's on!"

"Alright, Meditite!"

An unfamiliar blue-and-white pokémon materialised on the field, no more than a couple of feet high, with a curious onion-shaped head. It sat quietly in a lotus position, its large eyes closed. _Hmm. Probably safe to assume its a Fighting-type._ Josh glanced at Fionn fidgeting in the air. _Better keep her occupied._

"Will o' Wisp," he ordered.

Pale bluish flames appeared in the air in front of Fionn, shining faintly as if they weren't entirely real. She sent them whizzing towards Meditite, crackling eerily as they went.

"Detect," Tyler called. At the very last minute Meditite dodged the barrage of wisps, leaping high over a couple and sidestepping perfectly around the others. It lifted its skinny arm, eyes shining blue, and made a sharp shoving gesture. Fionn squealed in alarm as the Confusion attack flung her backwards. She instinctively faded from sight.

_So, it's a Psychic-type as well? Thank_ you_._ "Ominous Wind, Fionn dear. Whenever you like."

"Wait for it, Med. Patience, dude," Tyler said. Fionn's disembodied laughter echoed through the hall. Seconds ticked past. A shadow of doubt crossed Tyler's face – Josh suppressed a smile. _Can't Detect an attack you can't see coming._

Fionn reappeared in front of Meditite, took a quick breath, and rooted it to the spot with her Ominous Wind. Meditite let out a strangled cry and shuddered in distress. Pleased with herself, Fionn giggled happily.

Tyler was less amused. "Meditite, Psycho Cut," he shouted, pointing dramatically. With one fluid movement Meditite swept its palm down in a chopping motion. A purple crescent formed in its wake, slicing through the air, slashing into Fionn with such force that her form momentarily dissolved into a dark bluish haze. She didn't even have time to shriek before she fainted dead away.

_What on earth just happened?_

"Misdreavus is unable to battle," the referee called over a scatter of cheers from the spectators. "Meditite wins!"

The shock must have shown on Josh's face. "Two words, trainer: Pure Power," Tyler laughed.

_Damn, damn, damn! _Flighty though she was, Fionn's tricks could have caused Tyler any number of problems. With a little more time she could have set up a Future Sight and brought Meditite down with Destiny Bond … _damn._

"Alright," he said levelly. "Screwball, take over!"

The TV camera zoomed in on Screwball. Screwball stared back just as mechanically.

"A Steel-type? Bummer," Tyler said, shaking his head. "Ok, Med -"

"Metal Sound," Josh interrupted. Screwball emitted an awful screech, like a steel comb being dragged across rusty iron. Meditite yelled and covered its ears, the watching trainers groaning in sympathy.

"Oh, man … bring that kook down!"

Meditite made a grabbing gesture with both hands, its eyes shining blue again. It made a whirling motion, psychically wrenching Screwball towards itself. Up came its palm, as if commanding a halt. Screwball made contact with a soft thud. For a moment, nothing happened.

"Mag?" Screwball buzzed uncertainly.

"Thunder -" Josh started. There was a dazzling blast of greenish light. The dark silhouette of Screwball spun drunkenly, wailing in distress. Josh hurriedly shielded his eyes against the glare.

"Aargh! Charge Beam!" he roared.

There was a blaze of yellow light, the crackling fizz of an Electric attack followed by a dull boom. Black smoke billowed up.

"Whoa!" Tyler exclaimed, indistinct beyond the smoke as it cleared. Meditite was lying in the centre of a scorch mark.

"Meditite is unable to battle! Magnemite wins!"

Josh let out a sigh of relief. _Pull yourself together, man! _With effort he forced himself to calm down and concentrate.

Tyler recalled his meditite. "You did great," he told it. "Huh. This is better practice than last time. Well you won't beat this – Harley, you're up!"

Harley turned out to be a tough-looking sandshrew, leaner than usual for its species, with short, chisel-like claws. Its dull brown armour was covered in scratches and healed spun through Josh's mind. If sandshrew was Tyler's second choice then the third pokémon was probably machop, and either way Screwball would be at a type-disadvantage.

"Magnet Bomb," he ordered cautiously. Screwball appeared to launch the screws on the front of his body - they flashed in the harsh halogen lights as they homed in on their target.

"Defence Curl!" Tyler called. His pokémon curled into a tight armoured ball just before the Magnet Bombs struck home, detonating with a blue flash. Harley didn't so much as flinch.

"Ride out the wave, babe," Tyler said. "And roll on out!"

Uncurling briefly, Harley built up some speed with a few quick bounds before curling into a Rollout.

"Sonic Boom. Blast it away."

The Sonic Boom crashed over Harley like a thunderclap. The TV camera above rattled in the passing shock wave, but the sandshrew kept on coming unhindered.

"Alright, _Rock Smash!_" Tyler yelled. Harley came to a sharp halt just under Screwball; it leapt straight up, swinging its chisel claws. There was a rending bang – Screwball screeched like stereo feedback – Harley landed and leaped again.

"Dodge it!" Josh yelled, too late. Harley hammered Screwball with a second Rock Smash, knocking it out of the air with a crash.

"Magnurrr …" it droned, struggling to rise off the ground. There was actually a puncture in its steel shell.

"No," Josh said firmly. "Screwball, return."

The referee nodded in agreement. "Magnemite is unable to battle. Sandshrew wins!" he called amid cheers and whoops from the spectators.

"- that guy's boned -"

"Tyler's, like, so cool!"

"Three Badges to one, no contest -"

Josh squeezed his fist tight. He was acutely aware that he was on the back foot with two pokémon down, and in fairly short order. Tyler had the momentum in this battle; only tenacity and wits would turn the tide now. "Your tenacity is all I'll need," he told Bulbasaur through his Poké Ball. "It's just you and me, old friend. _Battle's on!_"

Bulbasaur sized up his opponent with a dour look. He didn't need to be told to be patient – he just sat back on his haunches and watched Harley carefully. Harley stared back with black eyes, poised on all fours like a coiled spring.

Neither trainer made a move. Tyler looked entirely relaxed, smiling up at Casey leaning on the balcony. Josh mentally went over everything he could remember about sandshrew during the lull. _No rash moves._ The camera above panned back and forth.

After what seemed like endless minutes it became apparent that Tyler was prepared to wait for as long as it took. _Maybe I can trick him into making the wrong move._

"Growth," he said. Tyler's attention snapped back to the battle, indecision hovering on his face. _Got you. You have no choice but to try and stop_ _me now._

"Oh, no you don't! Harley, cut down that Growth with Rollout!"

_That sandshrew's quick,_ Josh thought, watching it streak across the field. "Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaur barked an affirmation and lashed down at the speeding sandshrew. In his haste he missed by inches – Harley slammed into him head-on and circled away.

[Ow! Damnit!] Bulbasaur growled.

"Concentrate, Bulbasaur! You can do it!"

Harley swept in from a different angle. Bulbasaur extended his vines, took aim, and attacked. The first strike glanced off Harley's armour – the blow set it teetering precariously – the second hit it with a strong backhand strike, throwing it out of its Rollout. Bulbasaur took the initiative and charged, but Harley recovered fast, brandishing its claws. Bulbasaur hurriedly pulled up short and backed off rather than get caught in a brawl.

"Switch out your pokémon, Tyler!" someone shouted.

Tyler laughed amiably. "No worries, girl! Harley doesn't wipe out easy. Show the good people your Sandstorm!"

"San'shrew!" Harley said, curling into a ball again. It spun rapidly on the spot. Sand boiled up from nowhere, lifting in the sudden wind and filling the battlefield with whirling, stinging particles. The thick brume of sand quickly obscured Bulbasaur from sight; Josh could hardly see Tyler on the other side of the battlefield.

The shadow of sandshrew suddenly appeared in the blowing sand. It lashed out at Bulbasaur and disappeared into the storm, the dull brown of its scales blending into the sand. Almost immediately it reappeared from a different angle, attacked, and faded away. Bulbasaur tried to chase it with his Vine Whips, but Harley was even quicker than before.

_Sand Rush_, Josh thought, watching Harley patiently strike and fade away. Its claws trailed the telltale green after-image of Fury Cutter. _There must be a weakness somewhere._ The strength of the Sandstorm was constant; it didn't gust and billow, but whirled constantly over the whole field.

Tyler wasn't watching the battle. He was complacently talking to the spectators, confident in his sandshrew's abilities. One of the watching girls threw a paper airplane down to him – the Sandstorm caught it and shredded it, the pieces circling the field several times before they were tossed aside.

Josh stared at them. _Thank you._

"Release Sleep Powder, Bulbasaur. Make it a big one."

Bulbasaur growled fiercely, as much to focus himself as in defiance. His Sleep Powder mushroomed into the air, where it was instantly seized by the storm. The glittering blue powder mingled with the sand, leaving Harley with nowhere to hide.

"No way!" Tyler yelled, seeing the strength of the Sandstorm slacken off. Harley reappeared in the weakening storm, swaying from its efforts to stay awake. "Come on, babe, stay with it!"

It was no use. Harley fell flat on its face, dead to the world. [Haha! Got you, you grubby devil!] Bulbasaur said, laughing his harsh, choppy laugh.

"Bulbasaur," Josh warned. "Leech Seed!"

His pokémon dropped a couple of Leech Seeds onto Harley's unresisting back.

"Uh," Tyler said vaguely, wrong-footed. The hall was filled with the clamour of the spectators. Some of them were cheering, others were shouting contradictory advice. Josh had Bulbasaur use Growth to keep him off-balance.

Harley stirred lethargically, to the shouted encouragement of its trainer. With effort, it got to its feet. The Leech Seeds disentangled themselves from it and returned to Bulbasaur. Harley stumbled and collapsed. There was a collective cry of dismay.

"Sandshrew is unable to battle! Bulbasaur wins!"

Josh allowed himself a small sigh of relief. Evidently, Tyler had learned craftiness at the Dewford Gym, damn him. Drifts of sand lay heaped on the field – Bulbasaur sat stock-still, mimicking his own composure. The hardest part of the battle was imminent, and they both knew it. Beneath all his chilly thoughts of strategy, Josh was glad that Bulbasaur was his last pokémon, for the last match.

"Alright …" Tyler said in a low voice, "you've had some fun, trainer, but you're _not_ going to beat me! Let's go, Machop!"

The hollow bang of the opening Poké Ball rang clear across the field. Machop brandished its heavily-muscled arm at Bulbasaur, fingers curled into a tight fist.

"Focus Energy!" Tyler ordered. Gone was his laid-back demeanour.

"Growth!" Bulbasaur's bulb glowed with inner phosphorescence. The phosphor-glow burned bright and healthy, yellow firefly-motes swirling around his bulb.

"Bullet Punch!"

"Tackle!"

Darting in close, Machop sidestepped Bulbasaur's Tackle and rushed his flank, bringing its hand down in a Karate Chop. The attack missed Bulbasaur's neck, instead striking the thick bone of his forehead.

"Sleep Powder," Josh said, pulling back the initiative.

"Get out of there, Machop!" Tyler yelled.

"Take Down!"

Bulbasaur charged through his own Sleep Powder and tackled Machop hard, sending it flying while it was still trying to escape from beneath the powder cloud. Sand sprayed in its wake; it rolled to one knee to dodge a Vine Whip. Bulbasaur was in no mood to give any time to recover.

"Get it together!" Tyler called, his fists raised and clenched.

"Ma!" Machop grunted. It sprang up to its feet, flanked Bulbasaur and threw a pair of Bullet Punches – one smacked into Bulbasaur's side, the other thumped into his bulb. The sound of the impacts was worryingly loud – Bulbasaur tried to spin to face his attacker, only to find that Machop had anticipated that and moved with him. Down swept its hand again, the Karate Chop slamming into his collar.

"Agh!" Despite himself, Josh couldn't help but let out a stifled cry. He was sure he'd heard something crack when that Karate Chop struck. _That looked like a critical hit_. If he'd learned anything at all from Eve, then that blow hurt Bulbasaur more than he was letting on with his grunt of pain. With Bulbasaur's triple Growth still in play there was still a chance to win … but the match was quickly turning bitter, and brutal.

_Better finish it first, then._ "Vine Whip. No respite. I know you can do this!"

[Can, will!] Bulbasaur bellowed. With a sudden fury he lashed his Whips down on Machop. Surprised by the sudden fury of his assault, Machop took several stinging blows before it could bring its arms up to block.

"Keep on blocking! You've done this before!"

Bulbasaur refused to ease the onslaught. His Whips snapped down fast and hard, too quickly for Machop to seize them. Its defence was incredible – despite the power in Bulbasaur's Vine Whip it was somehow managing to endure the attrition.

Josh was running out of options. Tyler wouldn't fall for another Sleep Powder ploy and Leech Seed wouldn't make enough of a difference at this point. He could see that Bulbasaur was trying to favour his right side, likely as a result of that critical hit. His right vine swung at Machop's upper body. It brought its forearm up to block – Bulbasaur suddenly changed direction and struck at its leg. Machop howled and dropped down on to one knee. _Follow it up!_

But trying to maintain that barrage of Vine Whips had taken its toll on Bulbasaur. Tired, he paused for breath, and Machop seized its chance.

"Sleep Powder!" Josh desperately ordered. Tired as he was, Bulbasaur only managed to release a vague mist of powder.

"Dual Chop! Come on, finish it!" Tyler yelled. Heedless of the Sleep Powder, Machop struck Bulbasaur across the jaw with the first blow, dropped down and chopped his legs from under him with a follow-up backhand. Bulbasaur landed heavily – Machop slipped aside, spun and hammered a powerful kick into his ribs. Bulbasaur tumbled a quarter of the way back across the field, carving a furrow through the dunes.

"Bulbasaur!" Josh cried out. _Stay calm. Stay icy. Can I still win this? Should I still win this? _Bulbasaur was outmatched by Machop. Josh wanted to beat Tyler, really _wanted _it, they'd come far and pulled it back during this battle but -

_But it's my responsibility to think of my pokémon's health first. No matter what I want._

Bulbasaur slowly regained his feet, watched intently by the referee. [Sorry, Josh. My Sleep Powder wasn't strong enough.]

"No apologies," Josh said, and made up his mind. He raised Bulbasaur's Poké Ball, "I know you did your best."

[No!] Bulbasaur barked. [No! I can do this! I can still give you this victory.]

"You …" Josh said. His arms hung limp at his sides. _He wants to give me a victory, _he thought vaguely.

_Pay attention,_ a thought came, unbidden. A green glow was building in Bulbasaur's bulb – not the soft phosphorescence of Growth but brighter, stronger … it shone through the velvety forest green of his bulb, flickering strangely, like sunlight seen though linden-leaves in high summer.

[Time to settle with you!] Bulbasaur growled at Machop. Machop gave him an incredulous look, and burst into derisive laughter. Bulbasaur's vines shot out – the laughter died in Machop's throat when Bulbasaur seized it around the torso. Machop's eyes narrowed. It grabbed hold of the vines and pulled, intending to haul Bulbasaur to the ground.

But this time Bulbasaur had the mastery. He hoisted the struggling machop into the air and held it there for a moment, looking grimly up at it. With a sudden blur of movement, he slammed Machop into the field. A great cloud of sand blasted up.

"_No-oo!_" Tyler yelled. The sand settled. The field beneath Machop had splintered under the force of the impact. Tyler looked at this pokémon in disbelief.

"Machop is unable to battle! The victory goes to Joshua Cook of Mulberry Town!" the referee announced.

"Goddamnit!"

But Josh wasn't listening, because Bulbasaur was glowing pure white. Transfixed by the beauty of the living light, in that moment nothing else mattered. Bulbasaur grew larger, his body growing into a mature form. Great frond-like leaves unfurled gently from his bulb, which elongated into an elegant flower. With a final burst of white sparks, the light cleared. Ivysaur stood blinking on the field. The four fronds of his new leaves were a handsome deep green, his scales as shiny and supple as they ever were. But his bulb had become a shapely golden yellow flower.

_He evolved._ Bright, glad joy flooded Josh's heart. He rushed to his pokémon and smiled, completely and sincerely, at him. Ivysaur had kept the starburst pattern on his brow.

[How do I look?] he said. His voice was deeper, too.

"How do you feel?" Josh countered mildly.

[I feel … I feel great. Really great.]

Remembering a promise he'd made in the Heartwoods, Josh threw his arms around Ivysaur. "I love you buddy."

[What's got into you? You're not usually like this.]

"Yeah, well maybe I should be."

[Yeah, well, lucky for you I love you too,] Ivysaur said. [I'm exhausted, Josh.]

Josh fumbled for his Poké Ball. "Return, buddy. Next stop for you is the Pokémon Centre."

The recall beam whined, and Ivysaur de-materialised into a red blur. Only then did Josh realise that he'd won the battle.

"Good God, he actually managed it -"

"That's not fair! Tyler's got three Badges!"

"It was your dumb paper plane that gave him the Sleep Powder idea, idiot!"

_I won because I paid attention._ Somehow, next to Bulbasaur evolving, it didn't matter so much. Tyler had already disappeared – stormed off, for all Josh knew. The spectators were beginning to drift away in their twos and threes. The TV camera was watching him.

Josh stood up, and raised the Poké Ball in triumph.

Someone landed heavily on his back and threw their arms around his neck. "Guess who!"

"Eve!" Josh tried to snap. He grabbed hold of Eve's legs to stop her weight from pulling his head off. "Way to ruin my moment there."

"No I didn't. Now you're on TV with a pretty girl on your back."

"Someone thinks highly of herself."

"You said it, buddy."

Josh sniffed her arm. "You're sweaty."

"Yeah," Eve said matter-of-factly. She gave him a quick squeeze. "Well done, you! That was a great battle. You're like, so totally righteous."

"Don't you start talking like that," Josh said, though inside he was blushing with pride. "Are you planning on getting off me any time soon?"

"No. I like it here. Come on, let's go get crêpes to celebrate! Oh, wait wait wait, I almost forgot something. Hey fangirls!" she yelled up at the balcony. "Bradshaw looost, Bradshaw looost!"


	21. Cool Zephyr

**Chapter Eighteen – Cool Zephyr**

_**Evelina**_

The view from the elevator of Violet City Gym was the best in the city. The Gym faced east towards the castle; to the left Sprout Tower rose from amidst a grove of flowering cheri trees, down and on the right silvery trains slid in and out of the city along the Magnet branch line. The greyness of the past few days was passing, sunbeams piercing the clouds. It was going to be a fine spring afternoon.

Neither of them were really looking at the view. Josh brooded in the corner, probably meditating on strategy. Eve gazed out of the window, thinking. She'd given in to Aunt Immey and reluctantly consented to a brief phone call with Mum at breakfast. She wasn't really sure whether it was a good idea, in hindsight.

* * *

Eve impatiently tapped her fork against her plate. No-one should have to deal with mothers before finishing breakfast. At least the common room was relatively quiet this morning.

"I'm fine, mother," she said into her cell. "I'm staying at an inn down by Castle Hill."

"Why not the Violet Centre?"

"Look, the Silver Hind has hot springs. And a bar."

"Alright, as you like," Mum said loftily.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Eve had a noisy mouthful of her scrambled eggs. _What does she want from me? "Mummy, I'm drinking in moderation like a good girl!"_

"Your sister's doing well. She's got your skill with difficult visitors," Mum said.

"Mmhm," Eve replied as neutrally as she could manage, her mouth full of egg. _And mushrooms!_

"We've missed you around the Centre. We'll have to get another orderly at this rate -"

_So that's it, Mother? I'm off on the archetypal adventure for a month and all you can talk_ _about is the work I'm not doing. _She sighed testily. _I love these eggs. Why am I talking to Mum when I could be eating these eggs?_

"- well, you know how we can't just do without -"

"- you know, I saw the Ilex Forest Shrine," Eve cut in. "About a week ago, in the Deepwoods. It's a bit disappointing to look at. Might go and see the castle a bit later."

"By yourself? I heard you'd made a friend."

"Don't do that, Mum, I wanted to get _away_ from that," Eve growled.

"Explain."

"You know full well that I've made a friend! And I know you've already tried to tyrannise him."

"Evelina, did you _really_ expect me not to keep an eye on you?" Mum said sharply. "So yes, I had a little talk with him."

"Agh, just … just lay off him Mum. I mean it! He made me breakfast again …" she trailed off.

"Oh Eve, honey …" Mum started.

"Give me some credit!" Eve snapped. "I have a good reason to trust him. And that should be good enough for you."

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" Josh asked.

"Eggs," Eve said, without looking up. "You spoil me, Joshua Cook."

"When do you intend to challenge the Gym, by the way?" he said.

"I already have the Zephyr Badge," Eve said absent-mindedly, watching the banners flying from the towers of the castle.

"What! Why didn't you say?" Josh exclaimed.

"You never asked!"

"But, so why didn't you suggest we go to Florando Town instead, or Goldenrod City? A different Gym is what I'm aiming at!"

Eve smiled at his perplexed, faintly guilty expression. "It's not like it was a wasted journey for me," she said, tapping Pineco's Poké Ball. "I'm in no hurry to get to the Silver Conference. Oh, and we made, like, six hundred dollars between us."

"Hmn. If you say so …" Josh said vaguely, returning to his thoughts. Eve didn't blame him. She watched him frown at the floor as the elevator made its slow ascent. He really wasn't a masculine guy, to look at. With the right clothes he could pass fairly well for a scrawny girl – well, if only he'd stop scowling. Maybe with a feminine hairstyle and a little make-up … he'd still need a bit of boob, though.

_That's asking a lot you know, Eve. Don't you think you crossed a line?_

_Is he angry with me? He has been very quiet. Oh, God. He _is_ angry with me._

"Josh, I'm sorry!" Eve blurted out. _What the hell did you say that for? I don't know! _"Um, I, I put you on the spot yesterday. I was asking way too much of you and I'm sorry."

"Eve … is this about the tournament?"

There was a discreet musical tone from the elevator's speakers. "Pinnacle Battlefield. Good luck, challenger," an automated voice said pleasantly.

Josh hesitated briefly, giving her an odd, conflicted look. "Eve, buddy, we can talk about this later if you like, but I'm not angry. Please?"

"Yeah. Yeah, of course, what was I thinking," Eve said, feeling an embarrassed blush flare in her cheeks. "Um. Thank you."

* * *

Cheers and chants greeted them as the elevator doors opened onto Pinnacle Battlefield. The colosseum-style stadium was open to the sky. The clouds were steadily breaking apart in the wind that ruffled and tugged at their hair. Eve looked over the battlefield where she had earned her first Badge. She hadn't expected to see it again so soon – the dirt field, the concrete centre spot blazoned with an engraving of the Zephyr Badge. The cameras on the sidelines … Eve looked up and, sure enough, there was another cameraman mounted on a hovering fearow.

Josh took a deep breath, and she glanced anxiously at him. The stadium was only about two-thirds full, but it would still be the largest crowd Josh had battled in front of. At the other side of the field the Gym Leader gave her a tiny nod of recognition.

"Hey. Look at me, Josh," she said sternly. "Ignore the crowd. Ignore the cameras. Concentrate on the battle." It was all in the voice. Cold steel to be obeyed, warm butter to reassure. She punched him playfully on the arm, "I believe in you."

Josh didn't say anything, but gave her a nervous little nod. He strode slowly into the trainer's box, his nervousness apparently fading with each step. Eve knew him better than that – he was burying his nerves under an icy battle persona.

"Welcome, Joshua, to Pinnacle Battlefield, aerie of the Violet City Gym!" Falkner declared grandly. "Nowhere in Johto will you battle closer to the clouds!" he cocked his head to one side. "You requested a two-on-two battle, but I see three Poké Balls at your belt."

"One of my pokémon isn't ready for a Gym battle yet," Josh replied.

"Very wise. I'm not accustomed to a lot of talk before a battle, so what do you say we get started?" Falkner made a short gesture. One of his students stepped up to the sideline, judging flags in hand.

"This will be an official Gym battle between the challenger Joshua Cook of Mulberry Town and the Gym Leader, Falkner of the Violet City Gym! Each trainer will use two pokémon! The challenger will release first and only he may make substitutions! A Zephyr Badge is at stake!"

The tension in the crowd noticeably intensified. A camera zoomed in on Josh as he methodically selected his first Poké Ball. His fingers were steady as he expanded the Ball.

"Bul – damnit. Ivysaur, battle's on!"

"A bad start, Joshua," Falkner observed. "A Grass-type won't stand a chance against my Flying-types! Zubat, I choose you!"

Falkner's Zubat flittered round in erratic circles, her wings hardly making a sound. _Strong wings. And well-developed fangs, too._

"Ivysaur, return," Josh said. The recall beam whined to the unsubtle commentary of the spectators.

"What's with the substitution already?"

"Seriously. Did he not know this is a Flying Gym?"

"Screwball, battle's on," Josh called, ignoring them all. Somehow, Screwball managed to materialise upside-down. After a moment's robotic contemplation it slowly righted itself.

"From a bad type match-up to an obvious one," Falkner commented. "Zubat, start things off with your Double Team!"

"Sonic Boom," Josh calmly ordered. Just as Zubat started throwing up illusory copies of itself Screwball blasted a Sonic Boom through them. The fake zubat colony scattered. Most were caught and destroyed by the expanding shock wave – the escapees flittered round Screwball in a vain attempt to confuse it.

"Use your Twister attack!" Falkner yelled. One of the zubat stopped abruptly and rapidly beat her wings. A small tornado appeared in front of her before whirling off towards Screwball.

"Mag-nur-mite," it intoned. It was tumbled around by the winds and struck by cobalt lightning, but when the Twister dissipated it didn't seem to be so much as dizzy.

_Nice try, Falkner, _Eve thought, smirking. Josh's magnemite was the steel wall in his team. She wasn't sure why he'd decided to lead with Ivysaur when Screwball was the obvious choice … but Josh never did anything in battle without a reason.

"Charge Beam," Josh ordered. Ignoring the remnants of the Double Team, Screwball spun on its axis to face Zubat. The hovering bat instinctively dodged aside, just in time to avoid a crackling Charge Beam.

"Fly, Zubat!" Falkner shouted.

"Again. Shoot it down," Josh said coolly.

In a fluid display of aeronautics, Zubat jinked and evaded the sizzling Charge Beams as Screwball patiently aimed and tracked like a living gun turret. Eve suddenly noticed Screwball spinning its magnets, fat sparks crawling and snapping off its steel body. _You clever devil. _The barrage of Charge Beams wasn't just stubbornness – every Beam also had a chance of raising Screwball's Special Attack. Zubat folded her wings and plummeted hastily, singed by a dangerously accurate Charge Beam.

"Fly high, Violet Gym!" someone in the crowd shouted. Others took up the chant. "Fly high, Violet Gym! Fly high, Violet Gym!"

_Oh no, you sodding don't! _"Down, down, bring it down!" Eve hollered at the top of her voice. "Go, go, bring it down, bring it down, go, go!"

"Enough of this! Zubat, shut down that magnemite with your Confuse Ray!"

From this distance nothing seemed to happen, other than Zubat pausing in her constant movement to face Screwball. It jerked in mid-air, as if startled, and let out a stereo-feedback whine. Josh didn't react. He just stood with his arms folded as usual, his eyes fixed on Zubat.

"- that guy's cold, man."

"- saw him at the Battle Club yesterday -"

"Fly high, Violet Gym!"

"Alright Zubat!" Falkner commanded, practically growling. "Go into a dive and follow up with Super Fang!"

The crowd noise swelled. Zubat shot into a whisper-quiet dive. Neither Josh nor Screwball flinched.

The Charge Beam detonated with a deep resonating boom. Zubat tumbled from a chrysanthemum of acrid black smoke, wings flailing like the pages of a thrown book.

"Zubat!" Falkner yelled, running to his unconscious pokémon. There was some cheering and a few appreciative claps – Eve cheered her support – the fearow-cameraman soared close to the action. A sideline camera tracked Falkner as he walked back to his trainer's box.

"Zubat is unable to battle," the referee said redundantly. "Magnemite wins."

Falkner and Josh stared at each other across the field. _Falkner actually looks more grim than Josh,_ Eve thought wryly.

"One thing I've learned about magnemite," Josh said, "is that they have very little imagination. And, therefore, are very difficult to fool with illusions."

"… very clever. But you won't have it so easy a second time. Gligar, I choose you!"

Gligar was a thoroughly ridiculous pokémon, the bastard child of a scorpion and a bat, though in truth it was neither. He grinned at Screwball – well, he stuck out his tongue.

"Screwball, Sonic Boom," Josh ordered unexpectedly.

"Gligar!" its opponent cried, jumping more than ten feet straight up and over the Sonic Boom. His membranous wings snapped open, effortlessly catching the wind above the battlefield.

"Gligar, cut that magnemite to scrap with your Metal Claw!" Falkner yelled. His pokémon surfed easily on the wind, hardly losing any height as he banked. Screwball robotically turned to watch it. Suddenly Gligar collapsed his wing membranes and dropped like a stone, his claws outstretched. The fearow-cameraman followed him down before swooping out of the way.

"_Blast it,_" Josh snarled. The shock wave boomed past – Gligar snapped his wings open and somehow dodged around it. His claws turned the colour of dull iron.

The Metal Claw scraped along Screwball's flank in a shower of sparks. Gligar overshot, landed, and sprang airborne again. Josh's fists were clenched, the shadow of a snarl on his face.

"Calm down and concentrate!" Eve yelled. "Don't think I can't see that ice cracking!"

Gligar ascended smoothly on an updraft and attacked again, swooping down on Screwball from outside its field of vision. Sparks flew again and again as Gligar raked at it before leaping airborne in a blur. Screwball let out a burst of Metal Sound, possibly in frustration. Falkner's supporters cheered and jeered – a Metal Claw caught it on a screw and spun it around violently.

"Enough!" Josh snapped, raising Screwball's Poké Ball.

"Don't let it get away! Sand Tomb!" Falkner yelled.

"Gligarrr!" his pokémon bellowed. Eve felt the ground rumble, the vibrations radiating up through the soles of her feet. The dirt beneath Screwball suddenly erupted into a hissing vortex of sand and rock.

"Return!" Josh commanded. The recall beam struck the Sand Tomb and burst apart. _Screwball's going nowhere. Falkner's got you this time, Josh._

"Magnet Bomb!"

Something metallic burst from inside the sand vortex; Gligar tried to soar out the way, but the Bomb followed it up and exploded in a blast of blue light. Like Zubat before him, Gligar abruptly tumbled from the sky.

Screwball was in trouble. Eve could see its silhouette in the midst of the Sand Tomb, drifting ever closer to the ground. It let out a distressed whine, trying to rise, maybe trying to launch another Magnet Bomb. She glanced over at Josh – he was fidgeting on the soles of his feet. He hated being backed into a tactical corner.

"Mag … magne -" Screwball thumped into the dirt. The Sand Tomb died down, revealing an unconscious magnemite, its magnets hanging loosely.

"Magnemite is unable to battle! Gligar wins!" the referee called to a tumult of cheers and support from the crowd. Gligar took up position in front of his trainer, leering confidently. His exoskeleton was badly dented from the Magnet Bomb; it looked like some of the shrapnel had been driven in deep enough to draw blood. Much as Eve really wanted to shout all this out, she bit her tongue. _He'll want to win without my help._

Falkner raised his hands for quiet. "It is every trainer's prime responsibility to ensure his pokémon's ongoing good health, even in the heat of battle."

Josh gave him a cold stare. "I am well aware of that."

"Then forfeit," Falkner said. "You have only one choice you can make, and that's to send a Grass-type up against a Flying-type pokémon. You can't win."

"Really," Josh said. A tiny smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. The clouds above the Gym broke apart, spilling a sunbeam onto Pinnacle Battlefield.

"Ivysaur," Josh commanded, popping open Ivysaur's Poké Ball. Ivysaur sat down calmly, his expression as wooden as his trainer's. The flower on his back seemed to glow yellow in the sun.

"If you insist," Falkner said almost pityingly. "Into the sky Gligar! Start off strong with your Wing Attack!"

With little apparent effort Gligar surfed the wind up to a safe height. Ivysaur watched him carefully as he dropped down on a straightforward swooping trajectory, wing membranes held out rigid. In a sudden blur of movement Ivysaur slapped Gligar out of the sky.

"OH!" Eve gasped in surprise, echoed by the whole crowd.

"Take Down!" Josh ordered, raising his voice above the crowd. Gligar was smart enough to get airborne again almost immediately, spiralling up beyond Ivysaur's reach.

"Try it again! Mow that Grass-type down!" Falkner yelled.

"Vine Whips."

Ivysaur extended all four of his Vine Whips a couple of feet, holding them low. This time Gligar attacked from almost vertical, aiming for the flower. _Why do I get the feeling I've seen that attack before?_

"Scatterseed."

_What?_

Leech Seeds erupted from somewhere beneath Ivysaur's flower like a shotgun blast. Gligar swerved desperately, fruitlessly – there were too many Seeds flying in too many different directions. Two of the Seeds struck home, wrapping themselves around his tail and injured arm. Gligar wobbled mid-glide, managed to inflict a glancing Wing Attack and made a hasty landing. Spinning round, he struck out with Metal Claw, cutting a scratch across Ivysaur's hind leg and leaping into the air to dodge a lashing Vine Whip.

_I have seen that attack before! _It was the same plunging attack that Bugsy's beedrill had used back at the Azalea Gym – and Josh had devised a counter-attack without her knowing, the cunning devil. _More cunning that it first appears,_ Eve thought, watching Gligar trying to land a clean Wing Attack. The Vine Whip placement acted as a lure, encouraging Gligar to attack the flower.

"Fly high, Violet Gym! Fly high, Violet Gym! Fly high, Violet Gym!"

Ivysaur had changed the arrangement of his Whips – now with two held high and back, two held low and forward. Whatever angle Gligar attacked from, he met at least one lashing vine. _A pokémon capable of powered flight might be able to dodge round them, but Gligar …_

"Bring it down! Bring it down!" Eve chanted, hollering through cupped hands as Gligar tried again, sweeping in fast and low. The Leech Seeds disentangled themselves as he levelled out. Gligar's limbs sagged, suddenly weak from the loss of energy; he lost lift and crashed into the dirt.

"_Now!_" Josh yelled. Ivysaur's Vine Whips shot out, seizing Gligar by the tail just as he tried to leap away again. After a brief, violent struggle, Ivysaur had his opponent bound claw and tail.

"Hold on, Ivysaur," Josh commanded, holding his hand up. "Are you sure you want to continue this battle?" he called to Falkner.

The crowd went quiet, aside from the odd yell of support. Falkner glared back at him. "Gligar, try to get away!"

"Ivysaur," Josh said, bringing his hand down in a chopping motion. Ivysaur carefully smashed Gligar into the concrete centre spot – it cried out sharply and stopped trying to struggle. _This is it, this is victory!_

"I can have Ivysaur keep doing that until Gligar can't battle, or you can forfeit now. I don't want to hurt your pokémon if I don't have to," Josh said evenly.

Falkner continued to glare. There was a zing of excitement in Eve's chest – whatever Falkner did, Josh had won. _Come on, damn you! I want to celebrate his victory with him!_ Josh raised his hand -

"No," Falkner said. "I admit defeat."

The crowd burst out in a wave of cheers, a lot of chatter, and some boos. Ivysaur respectfully put Gligar down – they exchanged sportsmanlike nods. Falkner recalled him to a chorus of crowd complaints.

"I want my bloody money back!"

"- should have stayed at home."

"- can't give out a Badge for that! Rematch! Rematch!"

"Enough!" Falkner bellowed. He glared round the stadium for a moment, watched by a sidelined cameraman. "I am the Violet City Gym Leader! The award of a Zephyr Badge is at my discretion!"

Falkner met Josh on the centre spot. He looked none too pleased about his loss. "I won't deny that I never expected you to win," he said. "But in order to develop your strategy, you would have had to extensively study Flying-types. And for that reason more than any other, I award you the Zephyr Badge."

Josh held the swept wing-shape of the Zephyr Badge up to the sun, exchanging a proud glance with Ivysaur. He laughed, and squeezed it in his fist triumphantly.

* * *

Later that afternoon they went to explore the castle. Unsurprisingly for a Tuesday afternoon, there weren't many other visitors around. After Josh had finally given up trying to convince the staff to "let him have a go" with the trebuchet, they headed up to the top of the gatehouse. The view from the battlement took in the castle moat, and beyond that, the green lawn dotted with picnickers. They were both wearing souvenir tabards from the gift shop. Hers was white, blazoned with a red rose – his, black with a golden cross-crosslet. Josh had Screwball clamped firmly under his arm – it was still somewhat battered from the Gym battle.

"Magnemite," it said.

"No," Josh replied. "You can be out of the Poké Ball, but you have to rest."

_He'd make a decent orderly._ "So come on. Aren't you going to explain your strategy?"

"You mean leading with Ivysaur, don't you."

"Tell!" Eve insisted. "Why not Misdreavus?"

"Alright, alright! I told Falkner why – Fionn really isn't ready for a Gym battle. It's still too much of a game to her," he said. "So I studied the footage of his other battles. Falkner has two fatal weaknesses. Individually, his pokémon are all very good at what they do, but he always chooses the most obvious counter for any given situation. And secondly, he rarely plans ahead. Once I knew that, I also knew the battle would be settled between us rather than our pokémon."

Eve thought for a moment. _If I know Josh's style … _"Gym Leaders can't make substitutions. You were exploiting that, weren't you?"

"I knew you'd figure it out. You're a better trainer than me," he said, smiling at her. "I lead with Ivysaur, he picks an obvious counter. Screwball counters the counter, and that leaves Falkner in an awkward position. Electric/Steel, not easy for Flying-types to deal with. There's only one Johto Flying-type that can deal with a magnemite efficiently. So that's the one Ivysaur and I prepared for."

_Clever devil. _A pleasant favonian breeze stirred the air, riffling the banners flying above the gatehouse.

"If he'd used a pidgeotto or a murkrow I'd never have won," Josh said. "Hey. About the tournament."

"What?" Eve squeaked. "I mean, yes, buddy."

Josh took a long breath, staring east towards the Violet Gym. "I'll do it."

Eve's heart jolted. _You did hear that right, Evelina._

"- on two conditions," Josh continued. "If we're going to do this we're going to do this properly. No half measures. And you're paying for anything we might need."

"… really?" Eve said in a small voice. _He actually said yes!_

Josh turned to her, his expression solemn to the point of grim. But in his eyes … affection. "And then we show everyone what Evelina Joy can do."

Eve flung her arms around his neck. She leaned down ever so slightly to brush her cheek against his. "I won't forget this."

* * *

The train swayed rhythmically from side-to-side as it hurtled through the night. Eve was feeling sleepy. She always did, on train journeys. It was the gentle rocking on the tracks that did it, the hissing white noise of the rails.

The train PA chimed softly. "Now entering, Goldenrod Great County. Estimated time of arrival, eleven fifty-three pee-em."

The large, close-packed seats felt comfortably cosy, snug. _Mmmnn! I want to go to bed …_

Josh was in the window-seat, apparently gazing happily at the world outside. More likely he was thinking about his Zephyr Badge. His face was reflected in the window: satisfied little half-smile, dark curls, dark, dark eyes. Maybe he was warming to his identity as a pokémon trainer, but she had a feeling that what he really liked was calling home to report his victories. There was definitely some animosity between him and his dad, to judge from the way Josh had been smiling to himself all afternoon.

Eve yawned and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. For the second time that day, she was glad she'd made friends with Josh. She thought drowsily about the time they'd spent together – talking about everything, getting drunk together, getting on each other's nerves … that time in the Deepwoods when he'd shown his quality. She'd always thought that having a travel companion, spending every day with the same person, would be suffocating.

The train swayed rhythmically from side-to-side. Goldenrod City was still another hour away. The late train was cheap, but – Eve yawned expansively.

"Why don't you sleep for a while?" Josh said mildly.

"Need something to lean m'head on."

Josh spread his arm invitingly. "Come here, Eevee."

Eve hesitated, but her eyes were heavy; and anyway, Josh's worn grey jumper looked altogether too comfortable.

"Ok," she said, shuffling up close so she could curl up on the seat, and laid her head on his chest. He looped an arm around her shoulders.

"Ok?" he asked.

"Mmnn," Eve replied vaguely. She could hear Josh's heartbeat over the noise of the train. After a while he started to stroke her hair absent-mindedly.

It was a bit like being cuddled by her dad. Whenever her ex-boyfriend did things like that he was usually trying to build to something, but Josh …

With his heartbeat in her ears, Eve drifted off to sleep.


	22. Young Marisa

**Interlude – Young Marisa**

The sea was shadowed a wine-dark blue in the deepening dusk. Calm lay over the town of St Piran on Red Rock Isle, but for the sounds of the night market filtering through the narrow streets. The waves rolled slowly in from the ocean, slapping lazily into the concrete sea wall. A short pier jutted out from the wall, with a stout lamppost sited at the end.

Hidden beneath the dark waves, a juvenile lugia swam in from the open ocean. Though she was small compared to her mother, she was still twelve feet long with a wingspan to match. The Rangers of the Whirl Islands called her Young Marisa. Her name for herself was expressed as song; for those that could understand, it meant: 'female-young-daughter-female-lord-johtoclan'. She beat her wings slowly, carefully, expending hardly any effort to maintain a gentle cruising speed. From the pier, all that could be seen of her was a vague lugia-shaped silhouette.

An eerie blue glow briefly illuminated the waves. The silhouette of lugia disappeared. A few minutes later, the swimmer that surfaced was human … well, human-shaped.

Young Marisa swam inelegantly to the pier, a large squid clasped firmly in her fist. It waved its tentacles serenely, hallucinating under the effects of Extrasensory. She clambered up onto the pier and sat naked on the stone. In her favourite human shape she appeared as a young woman – she chose a heart-shaped face, with a delicate chin, penetrating eyes and a pink mouth. A sheet of sea-sodden white hair lay plastered down her back; dusted with silver-white feathers, it glittered faintly in the lamp light.

She sank her teeth into her squid, tearing off a ragged chunk of mantle. It realised too late what was happening to it and flailed its tentacles pathetically. It desperately tried to bite – its captor casually popped out its beak with a deft squeeze behind the eyes. Young Marisa bolted her writhing catch, ripping the soft, salty flesh into pieces and wolfing them down. Black ink gushed from the burst sac and dripped over her chest.

Gulping down the last tentacle, she clumsily tried to wipe the ink off her breasts. Young Marisa was rather proud of her breasts. She'd cleverly opted for a big set, so she would appear unmistakably human, or so she believed. She hummed her identity-song to herself – her family wouldn't hear her, not out of water, not with human vocal chords – but it was a comforting habit.

The shape of a human mind brushed against her own. Young Marisa suddenly realised what she'd forgotten. She waved a hand dismissively; now if any human saw her they would think she was wearing a big white shirt. Following the sounds and lights of the market, she wandered through the narrow streets to the town square. Paper lanterns hung in strings from lamppost-to-lamppost, illuminating the square with a cheerful orange light.

Young Marisa lurked in the shadows of an alley, watching the humans shoaling, exchanging things they had made, communicating, sharing food. The novel savour of frying fish was in the air. Young Marisa's social world was a small one. Outside her own family she hardly ever so much as heard another lugia – humanity's constant complicated shoaling fascinated her.

There was a shrine on the far side of the square, the oratory looming up over the stalls in front of the sacred ground. A steel lugia statue surmounted the shrine gate, wings spread dramatically, looking fierce and noble in the lantern-light. Young Marisa wondered why humans tried to be friends this way -

\- something was watching her. She mentally scanned the crowd. There, by a drinks stall, a man was eyeing her 'discreetly'. Young Marisa had seen that look before, and she did not approve of it. She clouded his mind with Extrasensory and slipped away.

Someone else was watching Young Marisa as she faded into the crowd. On the southern side of the square Rickard Orme tracked her with his Silph Scope and stroked his beard anxiously. Capturing her was going to be twice as difficult, now that Piers had been arrested, damn him. Piers had gotten greedy – tried to capture all four of the fledglings – and that had got him arrested. The other hunters were probably dead and drowned. He could call off the operation, but … Team Aqua had so many uses for a captive lugia.

Orme watched Young Marisa hovering near a fried squid stall. The Silph Scope showed her for what she really was. She was, after all, still a _young _lugia …


	23. Moonlight, Electric Night

**Chapter Nineteen – Moonlight, Electric Night**

_**Evelina**_

Eve's boat rocked gently on the ocean waves. The atmosphere would be quite peaceful, if it weren't for the damn wingull. There was one sitting in the bow with a trumpet for a beak, madly tootling a jazzy tune with a lot of bum notes.

"Hey, wake up," it said in Josh's voice.

Eve awoke to Josh shaking her. The train slowed as it pulled into the station. She hauled herself up off his chest, yawned expansively, and tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

"Now arriving at, Goldenrod Royal Station. Time of arrival, eleven fifty-seven pee-em."

They swung on their backpacks and headed for the doors as the train pulled up to the station. Eve was beginning to get that tired, lived-in feeling from wearing the same clothes for fifteen hours. Josh was trying to massage his own shoulder.

"How long was I asleep?" Eve asked him, stepping out onto the chilly platform. A crowd of people pushed past to board just as a crowd of people pushed past to disembark.

"About half an hour," Josh replied. "I don't mind."

Goldenrod Royal Station was as busy at midnight as Cherrygrove Central was at midday. The huge main concourse buzzed with activity - people hurrying down the escalators to the platforms, clustering around the departure boards, queuing up in front of the ticket windows. The station itself was well over a hundred years old, a stately red-brick building in the grandiose Neo-Gothic style. From outside the station, Eve surveyed the city with curious eyes, all tiredness forgotten. Goldenrod City was big, bright, vibrant, a skyline of skyscrapers and electric constellations. The crescent moon, thin and sharp as a nail paring, peeped out from between the towers. Behind them, the antique clock set above the station's main entrance clanged out quarter-past midnight.

Since it was late, Josh let Fionn out of her Love Ball for a while. The station was fronted by an airy plaza, with an equally wide flight of steps down to a second plaza; from there a second flight turned right and descended to street level. Fionn zigzagged around aimlessly, randomly fading in and out of sight. Occasionally she tried to sneak up on someone to scream at them – Josh snapped at her each time, and she desisted sulkily.

They headed north along Broad Street towards the metro station, passing by bars and late night bistros. The street at midnight was lively, bustling. Eve skirted a clowder of drunk girls wearing cat ears – one of them hissed at her – and automatically nodded to a Jenny on duty. She resisted the temptation to check out a jazz club, the cool sounds of a saxophone curling out into the street. She looked about the street again – bars, bistros, a cinema, love hotel, restaurants – _where the hell is that metro station?_

"Josh, you've got a better head for direction. Which -"

Josh had disappeared. She found him about thirty yards back, enchanted by a busking violinist. The girl had next to no charisma; Eve had walked past the first time without noticing her. Ah, but the the music … the liquid music emanating from her violin lilted like birdsong, high sweet notes rippling down and back to a soaring height, like a shower of sound with the sudden energy of a spring rain. For some reason Eve was reminded of green fields beneath blue skies, on long, hot August afternoons.

Fionn was snuggled down in her trainer's arms, just as captivated as he was, watching the violin with wide, childish eyes. The last few slow, sweet notes faded into the buzz of the street.

Like he was waking up from a dream, Josh drew out his wallet and threw a ten dollar note into the girl's violin case. She looked at him like she was simultaneously surprised she had an audience and astonished that she got such a large tip.

"A damn near perfect performance of The Lark Ascending," Josh explained.

"Well, at least that was a courteous line, you rake," she said sceptically.

"It's never a line with him," Eve said, winking at him.

The girl gave Josh a sidelong look with shrewd, electric green eyes. "I think I'll believe that," she said with a shy giggle. "I take requests?"

"Clair de Lune?" Josh suggested.

"A romantic, I see. I like that quality in a man …"

"You were so in," Eve teased later, as they walked on down the street. "Are you sure you don't want to do her?"

"Aren't you supportive – _Fionn!_" he yelled. His misdreavus pulled a face and slunk away from the person she was about to startle. "Return, you. Learn to behave yourself."

"I'm hungry," Eve announced.

"Sleep and eat," Josh said. "Simple creature, aren't you Eevee?"

"Oh, shut up," Eve said. "Come on, let's find something to eat."

"I think I can smell something grilling over there," Josh said. On the other side of the street there was a small square, bounded on one side by a church, and serendipitously by the metro station on the other. There was a food stand set up on the square, the temporary kind with rows of tall stools down the sides.

Eve dumped her backpack by a stool and hopped up, attracted by the inviting smell of grilling meat. Opposite, the local priest looked up from his gammon steak and gave them a friendly nod. Josh nodded back as he sat down.

"What can I get you," asked the stall cook, a middle-aged black man with skin like old leather and a cigarette-roughened voice.

"What've you got?" Eve replied.

"Best steak 'n' eggs in Gol'unrod. Five dollars."

"Sounds good."

"Make that two," Josh said.

"You fellas just arrived?" the cook asked. "How'd you like 'em?"

"Medium rare. What gave us away?" Eve said sardonically.

"Medium, nice and pink."

The cook laughed a sandpapery, old man laugh. "Little more feisty than the gals in the Centre," he stated. "Eggs?"

"Half hard, half soft. Eve has hers runny," Josh broke in. Eve scowled at him out of habit. "You here every night?" he continued.

"Not from Friday," the cook replied, cracking eggs into a skillet. "Got me a spot at the Park for the festival. How 'bout a beer to send it down."

"Couple of Anistars," Eve said. "What festival is this?"

To Eve's delight it transpired that they'd arrived in time for the annual Hoenn Festival. The Festival was to be held in National Park over the next week – a week of battles, games, dances and fireworks. The cook handed over their steaks and shamelessly lit a cigarette. "Enjoy 'em, fellas. So how's it goin' now Reverend …"

Eve hacked off a large chunk of meat and looked up at the metro station on the other side of the square. There was a digital bulletin board beneath the station name plate, displaying the latest departure times. On the main lines the Goldenrod L ran nearly twenty-four hours a day – as she watched an L-train crossed the road on an elevated track and entered the station. She savoured the mouthful of steak for a moment and made a contented little noise. _Warm steak, rich yolk, cold beer, oh my, _she thought, watching Josh trimming away fat.

"So. Where are we staying, city girl," he asked.

"The great Millennium Centre," Eve declared. "Largest single Pokémon Centre in the Empire."

"Millennium Centre," Josh repeated. "Why that behemoth?"

Eve flapped a hand vaguely in a 'In a minute' kind of way, and applied herself zealously to her steak for a while. "Because, dear Josh, of two reasons. One, Millennium Centre has some twin rooms, so we'll have privacy from other trainers. And two, Millennium Centre is big. Too big and too busy for any Joy to have the time to keep tabs on us."

Josh carefully excised a yolk from the surrounding white. "Cunning girl," he said, and popped the yolk into his mouth, whole and unbroken. "Rush of yolk all at once. Glorious," he said indistinctly.

"Don't you forget it. And that's heresy. Yolk on steak is the one true dinner."

* * *

Goldenrod City never really slept. On Penrose Street, on the north side of Trinity Bridge, the lights were on and the doors open at Millennium Centre. The buildings weren't quite so high here, merely looming instead of towering. Many of them were ageing, grandiose edifices interspersed with contemporary developments – the newly renovated metro station, the apartment blocks down by the river, Millennium Centre.

Eve and Josh weren't the only trainers heading to the Centre at this time of night. Not all of them were sober; some drunken teenager kept hitting on her, apparently under the belief that obstinacy was charming. After the third ignored brush-off, Eve saw red. His friends took umbrage to that and released their pokémon – a mankey and a gastly. For once Josh was quicker on the draw with Fionn and defeated them both handily.

"I'm surprised they backed down so easily," he said afterwards, cuddling a happy misdreavus to his cheek.

_Probably because they saw the six inch knife you keep in your jacket,_ thought Eve, but she said nothing.

'Behemoth' was a pretty good adjective to attach to Millennium Centre; a tall, brick-shaped building, the goose grey façade and distinctive red roof standing out from the buildings to either side. About a third of the way up, a huge digital billboard displayed a Centre bulletin, in short summarising how busy the Centre was. It also showed the names of the nurses in residence. Dr Jocasta Joy MPD, primary. Esmeralda Joy, secondary. Edith Joy, resident surgeon.

Two sets of double automatic doors formed the main entrance, surmounted by a P-and-Poké Ball stencil design. Inside, the atrium was an airy, two storey tall space. Superlatives attached themselves easily to Millennium Centre. To Eve's eyes it was very much like home, but built to a much grander scale – the colour scheme was the familiar eggshell white walls and pale yellow flooring, red counters and fittings, a long front desk at the far side beneath another bulletin board.

Eve recognised both the Joys on duty. There wasn't a Joy in Johto who wouldn't know Edith by sight, the surgeon-in-residence at the second most prestigious Pokémon Centre in the region. The other Joy was unfortunately familiar as well – she wasn't yet a full nurse, instead wearing the sleeveless pink dress of an orderly. _A senior orderly. _Riley had a slight superior smirk on her face, the little bitch.

Riley wasn't a Goldenrod girl. She was from New Barkshire; she and Eve often met at family gatherings. Riley loved to know things, which meant that she was stubbornly studious, but also highly arrogant and nosy. Landing an internship here had done nothing to improve her personality.

An escalator off to the right led up to a glass-fronted balcony that ran around three sides of the atrium. Opposite, on the left, was the doorway through to the cafeteria. At the back wall was the sign-in desk, and the way to their room for the next few weeks.

* * *

"I take it you haven't run into Riley this morning," Aunt Immey said.

"And why do you say that?"

"Because you're still in a fairly good mood."

Immey giggled at Eve's automatic exasperated sigh. Morning had brought a late breakfast in the cafeteria; for Eve, it had also brought a call from home. She was seated at one of the video phone bays at the back of the cafeteria, trying to finish an almond croissant and talk at the same time.

"So, do you have any advice?" Eve said, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

"No," Immey said bluntly. "You're good enough."

"But -"

"But me no buts," Immey gave her an encouraging smile. "You go and be the first Joy to win that tourney."

A wistful look crossed her face. "I met Pemberton once, at University. She could sweep you up into the way she saw things. You felt like you could defy stereotypes, too."

Eve said nothing, her mouth full of pastry. She knew the tourney history. Forty years ago there were hardly any elite women pokémon trainers. It never occurred to most girls that they could _be_ elite pokémon trainers. Then Victoria Pemberton smashed the stereotype, and became the first woman to be crowned Imperial Champion, the winner of all four regional tournaments; Johto, Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh. After she'd attained the title Pemberton established the Tigerlily Tourney to pass on her determination and verve.

"Can you mail me my laptop?" Eve said. "I'm going to need it."

"Yes. Provided you introduce me. I'm not going to bite him!" Immey gently mocked. Eve narrowed her eyes sceptically. Her aunt's face was a picture of innocence. _Immey's by far the least gossipy, I suppose._

Josh was hovering just out of earshot, working his way down a mug of that horrible battery-acid coffee he liked. She beckoned him over with the stub of her croissant. Josh gave the phone's screen a wary look – Eve belatedly remembered that he still had trouble telling her relatives apart, even out of uniform.

"This is my Aunt Immey," Eve said quickly.

"Oh! Dr Joy," Josh said amicably. "I have a copy of your book."

"I hope it's been useful," Immey said sweetly. Her voice suddenly turned cold and sharp, "Are you trying to fuck my niece?"

"_Auntie!_" Eve scolded, over the spluttering of Josh choking on his coffee and her aunt's delighted laughter.

"I … that is …" Josh managed between coughs.

Immey subsided, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. "Oh, relax!" she told him. "I know what you did in the Ilex Deepwoods."

Josh rounded on Eve in annoyance. "I told Mum. To try and get her off your back," she said defensively.

"That's not a story to be ashamed of," Immey said. "A young man who can see past cute titties, that's quite rare."

Josh went icily quiet for a moment. "Well, I think I could do with another coffee. Pleased to meet you, Dr Joy."

"He's got _you_ pegged," Eve said, watching him walk away.

"Spoiled all my fun," Immey said mildly. "So what are you going to do in the Sunshine City?"

"Today? We're going to the shrine in a while. Then there's the Hoenn Festival next week."

"Mmn. One small shred of advice, then. Move Tutors! You need to diversify," Immey gave her one of her shrewd looks. "You still haven't said who your tourney partner is."

"No, I haven't," Eve said innocently. "Leave it alone, Aunty."

* * *

The Great Shrine of Rhia Victoria lay screened off from the road by an evergreen cypress hedge. The shrine gate pierced the green wall on the southern side. Auxiliary shrines dedicated to Rhia's Fourteen Followers lined the approach to the drum-shaped oratory, the elegantly simple brick dome peering up over the trees. Eve bowed at the shrine gate. They were well acquainted, Eve having visited her shrine in Cherrygrove City many times, but Rhia of Victory was a proud spirit, and prickly about her honour.

Josh didn't bother bowing. He never did.

"Hey Josh!" she called, jogging to catch up. "I've been wondering about something."

"Hm."

"What changed your mind?"

"I'm not sure," Josh said after a moment's thought. "I think it was when you started trying to out-cheer the crowd during my Gym battle. Besides … I know what it's like. To want to prove a point."

Inside the oratory, the circular hall was dominated by a marble statue of Rhia Victoria – naked in contempt for the weapons of the enemy, staring defiantly up at the foe. Rhia of Victory needed no armour. In both hands she held an iron spear, aimed squarely at the heart of her imaginary foe.

Eve paid her respects to Rhia, leaving a fairly large offering this time._ I'm only asking for an edge. Just an edge._ Afterwards she bought a charm to hang from her gilet zipper, just in case.

Josh wasn't lurking by the entrance like she thought he would be. He was confronting Rhia's statue, looking blackly up at her like she'd personally insulted him. _Oh, no. Please don't annoy her. _The set of his jawline suggested he was gritting his teeth. To her surprise, Josh bowed – stiffly and none too deeply, but bowed nonetheless. He prayed for a while, still with a black look on his face. It occurred to Eve that she'd never seen him so much as nod at a roadside hokora, much less pray to a spirit of any kind.

"You ready?" Josh said with forced insouciance.

"I've … never seen you pray before," Eve said.

"I don't usually," he said evasively. "I didn't do it for me."


	24. Dances with Dragons

**Chapter Twenty – Dances with Dragons**

_**Joshua**_

National Park hummed with the noise and activity of the Hoenn Festival, gently warming in the glad spring sunshine. It was Saturday afternoon, and the smell of the morning's rain was rising off the turf. The mountainous heights of cumulus clouds floated in the blue sky, shining bright white and threatening more showers later. The wide green spaces of the park were, to Josh's mind, a welcome break from the towers and bustle of the city. In truth, the park was surrounded by the city, west, east, and south. Route 35, coming up to meet it from the south, opened onto a spacious plaza paved in golden-brown brickwork. Countless colourful stands, stalls and tents crowded the area, except near the centre of the plaza where a wide space had been left clear.

North of the plaza was the main body of the park - one thousand acres of parkland, the landscape describing the rough shape of a Poké Ball, the wide space of Fountain Court in the centre, the Hundred Acre Wood near to the Pokéathlon Dome, Landau open-air theatre. A shallow river wound through the park, its banks lined with blossoming cheri trees and strewn with festival-goer's tents.

Josh emerged from his tent and sighed. Goldenrod City wasn't doing much to endear itself to him. National Park was greener and calmer than the city, but to his eye it was obviously a work of urban design. The River Inglebeck flowed lazily by in its tidy channel, sparkling cheerily in the sun. Ivysaur was lying flat on his stomach, quietly photosynthesising. "Keep an eye on the tent, will you, bud?" Josh said. Ivysaur just grunted in return.

Eve was sitting on the riverbank, wearing a fairly modest royal purple bikini, dangling her leg into the water. She looked round at the sound of his footsteps on the grass, and immediately gave him one of her sceptical looks.

"What?" Josh said defensively.

"A wetsuit. _That's_ the swimwear you had mailed over?" Eve said.

"It's what I own," he said bluntly. That was half-true; the nondescript charcoal-grey wetsuit was the legacy of an abortive attempt at windsurfing. Swimming in the river was Eve's idea, of course. He followed her somewhat mournfully as she splashed happily out into the middle of the beck. The water was waist high and still rather tepid despite the warm weather; the riverbed beneath their toes was fine and sandy.

Eve stretched, and shivered pleasantly. She gave him a mischievous look and took on a faux-boxing stance. "Hey, you! Let's fight!"

"No!"

"Oh, come on, wrestle me! What's the matter, afraid of getting your ass kicked by a girl?"

"A stronger girl than me," Josh said, haughtily turning away. Eve's bikini was making him nervy and he was damned if he was going to be putting his hands on her.

"Anyway," he said, turning back around. Eve had somehow vanished.

"Eve?" he said, slowly, suspiciously.

"Yaaah!"

Eve surfaced like an angry pink gyarados, teeth bared in a snarl, hands curled into claws. Seizing him round the middle, Eve bore him into the river with an almighty splash and made a spirited attempt at drowning him. Water clanged in his ears – his roar of fury emerged as an indistinct burble. As soon as he managed to stand he tried to shove Eve underwater by her head. She slipped out from under his palm and tackled him again.

It didn't take long for them to be wrestling in earnest, splashing and giggling like children. Josh sneakily tripped Eve and sent her falling back into the river with a shriek. There was a complicated moment as Josh seized his chance and his friend – he held on with difficulty as Eve thrashed and wriggled and snarled like a petulant gyarados.

"Hey, _hey!_" she suddenly yelled. "That's my boob!"

Josh couldn't have let go faster if she'd burst into flames. "Sorry! Sorry Eve! I didn't realise. Sorry," he babbled, the colour already rising to his cheeks.

"Can't believe you fell for that!" Eve said gleefully, turning and tackling him – or at least, she tried to. Josh stepped smartly aside and unceremoniously shoved her hard into the water.

"Don't! Do that," he warned.

"What!" Eve said, wiping her waterlogged eyes. Then she saw his expression of mixed ire and embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sorry," she relented. "I won't pull that trick again. We square?"

Josh took a couple of steps towards her, arms open as if offering a hug. Eve leapt forward and smiled – until he snapped his arm round and pushed her back in.

"Now we're square."

* * *

A flygon beat its scintillating wings, drawing an appreciative gasp from its admiring crowd. The buzzing wingbeats sounded eerily like singing. It was late afternoon, and still bright but for the odd light rain shower. Josh ambled aimlessly around the plaza, exploring the festivities. The festival was a kaleidoscope of Hoenn culture – stands selling bacon-and-potato stew, pokéblock cases, leppa dragoncakes, Go-Goggles. Josh found himself gravitating towards the craft stalls. He paused to check out a display of Fallarbor glassware; painted flutes and delicate wind-bells chiming sweet and clear.

"Beautiful," he commented. "Do you do online orders?"

"I do. I have to with _him _around," the glazier said, jerking a thumb at the deep shade of the breeder's tent opposite. A young pyrite sableye stared at Josh disturbingly with its fool's gold eyes. Once it realised he was looking back its goblin-grin widened slightly. _Come into the sunlight and grin like that._

There were a fair few breeders at the festival. Josh was sorely tempted by a thunderous grey cumulonimbus swablu, miniature lightning bolts flashing sporadically from their wings. He was just about to buy one when he caught sight of some unfamiliar Grass-types standing on a stall counter top, apparently enjoying the afternoon sun. They were about two feet tall, and humanoid, with leafy tabards and thorny heads. Instead of arms they had flexible stems, bearing a pair of large roses. Each pokémon had differently coloured roses than the others.

"What species are these? I don't recognise them," Josh asked.

"Roselia. Or _Rosa toxicus_, if you prefer," the breeder said, a pleasantly smelling lady in a lilac and white skirt.

"I do," Josh laughed. "Are these all separate subspecies?"

"These are all _R. toxicus _cultivars,"she replied. A roselia with pure white flowers blinked serenely at him. There was something vaguely familiar about them.

"That one's Fidelity. A symbol of enduring love," she continued. "Quite similar to a garden cultivar."

Josh made a neutral noise, his mind still half-full of thundering swablu. A transparently sly look crossed the breeder's naturally guileless face. "Perhaps you'd like a Royal Glory?" she suggested, gesturing to a patriotically coloured roselia with one rose a rich gold, the other a deep red.

Josh's republican heart rebelled. "I already have a Grass-type on my team," he said doubtfully. He double-took briefly; the smallest roselia was singing tunelessly and happily waving its stems at him. Its left rose was a brilliant fuchsia shading through to white at the tips of the petals – the right, white shading to fuchsia.

"This little one's my Double Blush. Although I can't help but think of this cultivar as Raspberry Ripple," she giggled. "You can pick her up if you like."

Josh gently lifted the roselia, which giggled delightedly in turn. The colour of her flowers really was reminiscent of ice cream. A light, enervating scent rose off the petals, like crushed kingsfoil.

"All my roselia germinate knowing Bullet Seed," the breeder continued. "Their evolved form, _Rosa masquerada_, have very high Special Attack and can use the Weather Ball attack."

The little roselia gave Josh such an adorably innocent smile that he melted rather like ice cream himself. "Aw," he said helplessly. "Sold. Sold, damn you."

Josh wandered through the festival towards the sounds of battle, clutching his new roselia seed. The dark brown seed was packed into a tough egg-shaped canister about nine inches tall, half-filled with compost, the top half of the canister clear perspex to let sunlight in. There was a brief flash from up ahead, where a small crowd was gathered around an elevated battlefield.

Eve was standing at the near side, battling with her meowth. Opposite her was one of the Festival trainers in a green apron decorated with a rayquaza silhouette. His pokémon was a bipedal lizard with a yellow crested head, a tightly coiled tail, and a wide frog-like mouth.

"Go Kecleon!" he shouted. "Water Pulse!"

Kecleon dropped to all fours, opened its huge mouth wide and fired a concave disc of water. Meowth watched it perform the attack intently, leaping high over the Water Pulse at the last moment.

"Slash!" Eve commanded, snapping her fingers. Meowth executed a textbook plunging Slash, unfortunately slashing at thin air as Kecleon rapidly faded into the foreground and slipped aside. For some reason its jagged red belly stripe remained visible, zigzagging unpredictably towards Meowth.

"Damnit, not again!" Eve growled. "Double Team!"

What would have been the real Meowth immediately disappeared, apparently cut apart by Kecleon's claws. There was a burst of appreciative comments from the spectators. Josh could see why – even he was having trouble discerning the real Meowth among the copies. A frenetic duel ensued, almost too fast to follow, Meowth trying to Slash at the chameleonic Kecleon while it swiped wildly at the Double Team. Another Water Pulse swept by; Meowth's retaliatory Slash missed entirely.

Eve was beginning to lose her temper. "Flash it out!" she ordered.

Meowth's charm blazed – Kecleon let out a high-pitched scream and reappeared, its scales rippling a combative red. Meowth was on it in an instant. Watching that maniac assault reminded Josh of why he never liked that furry thug. Out of battle he acted like a rogue with a heart of gold, all déshabille and easy grace, attempting to charm every girl he came across. Give him an opponent, and he became a callous little savage.

_Cats, as bad as foxes,_ he thought sourly. Both trainers recalled their pokémon.

"Alright, let's see what you think of this one," Green Apron laughed. "Grovyle, I choose you!"

Grovyle was a relatively small, lithe reptile with a spray of long oval leaves sprouting from each wrist and a permanent smirk. Eve scanned it with her Pokédex. "Grovyle, the Wood Gecko Pokémon. It's strongly developed -"

Eve abruptly cut it off, yanking another Poké Ball from her gilet and flourishing it with her toss-expand-catch motion. "It's time. Pineco, you have the honour!"

_Hmm. This'll be interesting._ Pineco was the only defensive pokémon on Eve's team of speedsters. Josh still hadn't really had a chance to see her in battle. She'd modified her armour, discarding some of the anti-Poké Ball twigs in favour of spongy bark and leaf litter.

"Iron Defence!" Eve called. Grovyle was faster, crossing the field with a blindingly fast Quick Attack. Twigs splintered under the impact – Pineco was thrown off her axis – Josh noticed the metallic flash of Iron Defence appear a second too late. If Pineco was hurt at all she didn't show it, simply hauling herself upright with a silken line.

"Uh, try a Mega Drain!" Green Apron called. There was a coy popping sound. Green bubbles began to pull themselves free of Pineco's body and drift briskly off towards Grovyle.

"Counter that," Eve said unconcernedly.

"Pineco," her pokémon said shiftily. She raised her upper armour plates discreetly. Grovyle's eyes widened in alarm -

_Boom. _A long chitinous spike thudded into the field where Grovyle has been standing just a moment ago. Pineco chased it with a couple more Spike Cannon rounds, a flat bang accompanying each one.

"A Hoenn starter pokémon isn't beaten that easy!" Green Apron yelled to the crowd. "Show them your Leaf Blade!"

The longest leaves on Grovyle's wrists extended and sharpened into a pair of straight, double-edged blades. _Won't work._ Grovyle crossed the battlefield in two swift bounds, forearms raised. Even if Pineco could have dodged, he doubted she would have bothered. The Leaf Blades slashed down. Pineco didn't seem to care. The attack cut through her outer bark armour but only scratched her chitin. Frustrated, Grovyle danced itself into a blind fury, futilely hacking at Pineco's armour.

"Seize the initiative! Take Down!"

"Dodge it!"

The crowd groaned sympathetically as Pineco collided heavily with Grovyle – its Leaf Blade bent violently out of shape.

"Oh my -"

"End it! Pin Missile!" Eve shouted. With surprising elegance Pineco hopped on the spot and started a Rapid Spin. Before Grovyle could get up she smothered it with a Pin Missile bombardment. Pins snaked out from Pineco's still-spinning body and exploded like crackling gunfire, each one detonating with a puff of acrid smoke.

"That's enough, Pineco," Eve declared. "We've won."

From what Josh could see through the haze, Grovyle was conscious but thoroughly shell-shocked. Its trainer looked somewhat shocked himself. Pineco was bouncing up and down, apparently happy to have won.

Green Apron rallied. "So you have. I'd ask for a rematch, but it looks like I have to visit the Pokécentre."

"That's ok," Eve said mildly. She turned to the crowd with a certain dramatic flair. "Goldenrod City! I challenge you to battle me. One-on-one! Consecutive battles! Who will beat my Pineco?"

* * *

In the end, Eve won three battles in a row. Not for the first time, Josh felt like an amateur next to Eve. She'd taken a slow, patient species and found a way to make it fit her intuitive battle style. Her opponents seemed to be actually unnerved by the concept of a pineco on the offensive. Pineco performed her attacks with an efficient elegance; her projectiles landed precisely where she wanted them to, and usually to the greatest effect.

There were still so many things to see at the festival. They were in a silk mercer's marquee, not far from the battlefield. A radio was on in the background, one of the local stations. Eve was trying on bandanas, leaving Josh to vaguely peruse ties he knew he couldn't afford. A dark green one caught his eye – it had a subtle leaf pattern running along the left-hand side. _Smooth as water._ He put it down and turned away with a disappointed sigh.

"- welcome into the studio, former Tigerlily Champion, the fabulous, Arcade Star Dahlia!" the radio chattered.

Eve appeared from behind a carousel of dresses. She'd settled on a magenta bandana that made her look like a pretty pirate. "It suits you! You should buy it," she said.

"Too expensive," Josh said. "I'll see you outside."

Eve emerged a few minutes later. "Where shall we go now?"

"I don't know. I'd rather not go back into the city just yet."

"Alright then," Eve said. "Oh, hey, a pop-up café! Let's stop there for a while."

The café was more of a bistro, set up beneath a wide canopy blazoned with the name 'La Fée Verte'. They sat up at the counter – Josh set his seed canister on the counter-top where he could keep an eye on it.

"The Green Fairy, eh? Couldn't get a glass of green fairy, could I?" Josh joked.

"Yes indeed, sir," the server replied smoothly. "Littleroot's finest."

"Explain?" Eve said.

"Absinthe, the drink of Kalosian bohemians and Unovan beatniks alike; but always very Hoenn," the server said.

"Groovy. Hook me up, juiceman," Eve said.

"I suppose I'll have one," Josh said, ignoring another burst of Eve's bizarre slang. "It's more or less appropriate at five o'clock anyway."

"Very witty, sir," the server said. He laid out a pair of absinthe glasses – curious glasses, they had bulbous reservoirs at the base that widened out into a typical tumbler shape. Into each glass went just enough deep green absinthe to fill the reservoir.

"During the nineteenth century, absinthe became so popular in Kalos that five to six o'clock became known as 'l'heure vert' – the Green Hour," Josh said pre-emptively.

"You are such a square," Eve said. "How do you know all this?"

"University Kalosian," he explained, watching the server add ice water and a little sugar to the neat absinthe. "And a year living abroad in Lumiose," he added wryly.

"You never told me you could speak Kalosian!" Eve said accusingly.

"When did it ever come up?"

"Voilà, your green fairy, sir."

"Merci, monsieur," Josh said distractedly. "It's about time we talked doubles strategy."

"Mm. Whatcha come up with, Daddy O?" Eve said, starting on her absinthe. Josh gave her a chilly look.

"I've been thinking about our battle styles. Fundamentally I think it comes down to this – my style requires that my opponent show their hand first. I need space to think at the beginning of each match. If I try to catch up with you from the start, we'll never synergise."

"I know you like to test the waters," Eve said. "I can adapt to that. Um … you know I don't plan, though. I have to battle on the edge."

"That's going to be a problem."

"Does it have to be?" Eve countered. "You know my pokémon, their moves, you know the way I like to battle."

Josh sipped at his absinthe thoughtfully. The complex aniseed flavour reminded him of Lumiose City. Eve wasn't wrong. He had a pretty good idea of what to expect from her in battle. That wasn't to say that she couldn't surprise him, but … _well, got to compromise somewhere._

"Couldn't we at least scope out our opponents where we can?" he said.

"Can't hurt, I guess," Eve said. "For the sake of general strategy. What about your team?"

Josh shrugged. "I think I'll invest in a couple of TMs. Nature Power and Flash Cannon, I think. Perhaps Recycle -" He was cut off by the ringing of his Pokégear. He velcroed it off his wrist and glanced at the number. _Home. Mum or Dad?_

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Your telephone manner's improved," his dad's voice said.

"So has your wit," Josh parried. Predictably, Dad ignored that.

"How's the great Sunshine City?"

"This damn city … too busy, too crowded. Not enough green."

"Rather you than me," Dad said. "I saw your Gym battle. When did Bulbasaur evolve?"

"The day before, actually. What a battle … I'd run out of ideas, was about to forfeit, but Bulbasaur wasn't having any of it," Josh said. "It was his victory, really."

"He's come a long way. I expected him to evolve earlier."

Josh let out a small, irritated sigh. _Of course you did, old man. _Some fathers would say 'Congratulations', or 'Well done'.

"So they aired some of the footage," he said in an attempt to change the subject.

"They showed the whole battle. Saw it in the pub – you made the JPLN top ten."

"I'm quite pleased with how that battle turned out," Josh said vaguely, unsure of quite how to react to that news cutting.

"You shouldn't have made it difficult for yourself," Dad said bluntly. "Not using misdreavus."

"Have you forgotten that I won that battle?" Josh demanded.

"This time! You won't get away with it twice!"

"I was in control of that battle!"

"It was a risk," Dad insisted. "Half your team was weak to Flying-types."

"Dad …" Josh pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fionn's not got the right temperament for a Gym battle."

"She's disobedient?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem."

Exasperated, Josh screwed his eyes shut. "Dad, I've got to go. No, no, I've got work to do," he said, talking over him. "I've got training."

He hung up abruptly, slapped his Pokégear down on the counter-top, and went straight back to his absinthe. It was typical of the old man to be like this. He was getting heartily tired of the arguing over his training and tactics. _Like I don't know my pokémon best, _he thought sourly.

"An annoying conversation, huh," Eve asked. Josh grunted non-committally, still quietly fuming.

Eve sighed angrily. "Damnit Josh," she muttered, almost growling.

"What did I do?" Josh snapped. Eve gave him an affronted look, eyebrows raised expectantly.

_I'm not playing guessing games. _"Fine. Sorry. Whatever it is," he said.

There was a short, hot silence.

"So that's it, huh?" Eve said. "Just going to shut me out."

"What the hell are you on about?"

She sighed again, and looked away. "You are such a typical guy," she said contemptuously.

Josh felt his temper rise at that. _Typical guy, is it! _He deliberately turned away, taking an unwisely large draught of absinthe and paying no attention to Eve.

"Well?" Eve demanded.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Josh said innocently.

"So that's it, then?"

"Yeah, that's it!"

Eve slammed her hand into the counter-top. "Ohh – you!" she raged, rising suddenly. She threw down a clattering handful of coins and stormed off in a fiery wrath.

_Suit yourself, you hydreigon. _He tried to go back to his absinthe, and think about possible Recycle strategies. That was easier said than done – his thoughts kept sliding back to Eve. When he was halfway down his absinthe his Pokégear rang again – he immediately hung up when it turned out to be Eve breathing fire at him.

_I'm not going to apologise this time._

* * *

_How am I going to apologise this time?_

Josh stood outside the room, staring fixedly at the door number. He hadn't been able to concentrate after Eve left. The knowledge that she was angry with him had cooled his own temper, replacing it with a sad feeling in the pit of his stomach. After a while he just gave up and headed back to Millennium Centre.

Eventually, he opened the door.

The room might charitably be called cosy. The tiny bathroom on the immediate left accounted for at least a third of the space; the bunk bed and wardrobe in the alcove thus created accounted for most of the rest. Eve was sitting behind her laptop at the table opposite. She threw him a blazing look before very pointedly ignoring him.

Josh took a deep breath before starting. "Look, Eve -"

"I'm not interested."

"Eevee -"

"Don't call me that!" she said sharply. She didn't raise her voice. The words came out like hot steel. "I want an apology."

Josh forced himself to stay calm. _You're not having it all your own way._ "I know what you want to hear, but -"

"What did I just say?"

"Do you know why I didn't talk about that damn call?" Josh interrupted. A combative shrug. "Because I'd rather have a good conversation about you winning the Tourney than -" he broke off abruptly. "Than my dad."

Eve's expression softened a shade. "I talk to you about my family all the time. Are we any less friends for that?" she said. "Our friendship is unbalanced. I'd rather have times when we're sharing each other's annoyance – damn it Josh, being friends!"

_Oh no._ "You're right. You're right. I didn't realise," Josh said. He seated himself on the lower bunk with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

Eve gave him a penetrating look, but there wasn't really any fire in it. "I guess I wasn't being fair expecting you to figure it out," she admitted.

Josh managed a weak smile. "I can't stand it when you're angry with me."

"Yeah, I know," Eve said wearily. "Neither can I."

* * *

It seemed like half the trainers in Goldenrod were in Millennium Centre the next morning. Josh lurked discreetly in a sunny corner of the common room, giving his seed a sunshine-bath. In the meantime he was studying the girls again – looking for mannerisms to copy, listening to the way they spoke.

"Keeping the voice consistent is going to be difficult, Screwball," Josh murmured.

[Yes,] Screwball dutifully agreed.

Josh watched a girl walk by over the top of his glasses. _More upright, usually shorter strides._ A thought occurred to him. "Screwball, tu comprends Kalossais?"

[Yes.]

_Interesting. _So apparently his pokémon understood _him_, not the language he was using. That made sense. It wasn't like Screwball learned English any more than he had learned Magnemite.

[Time.]

"What? Oh," Josh checked his Pokégear. Time was moving on – he was supposed to be meeting Eve in a couple of hours. He headed back to his room, trying out a feminine walk along the way. In the stairwell he started singing softly, concentrating on his pitch. Some of the online sources he'd found recommended singing in a feminine voice for practice. It was helpful, too, that he was a good mimic – something that had been useful while learning Kalosian. He was still singing when he reached the room.

"What care we how white the spray is,

What care we, boys, for wind and weather?

When we know that -"

There was an unfamiliar Joy in his room.

He closed the door.

He opened it again. The girl hadn't spontaneously morphed into Eve – this one had sharper, leaner features, well suited for the scornful look she was giving him now. She was wearing an orderly's dress and armband.

"Get the fantasy out of your head," she said. "This dress stays on."

"What!" said Josh, instantly outraged.

"I don't care what Imogen says," Joy continued, ignoring him. "The Joys look after their own. So you'd better keep your hands to yourself."

_This is about Eve. As bloody usual,_ Josh thought, trying to maintain his composure. "Eve is a grown woman," he said coldly. "She can make her own choices."

Joy gave him that fiery, nail-you-to-the-wall glare. It didn't have the same effect as when Eve used it. She seemed to realise this after a moment, and tried circling him slowly. Josh matched her step for step.

"What choice do you want? Do you like Evelina? Or do you just want to do her? Although," she added, "for a boy that's one and the same."

Josh took a long, deep breath. If Joy wasn't as self-centred as the average glameow she might have noticed the signs of a man who'd had enough. Had enough of being gossip, had enough of the slurs on his honour. That last snide little insult was the last straw.

"Is that all I am to you people?" he enunciated in a low voice. He carefully placed the egg canister on the table.

"Answer the question."

"Get out."

"Answer the question."

"Get out!" Josh snarled. "Or do I have to throw you out?"

It seemed to dawn on Joy that she was pushing her luck. She gave him one last sapphire-edged glare and flounced out, the effect of her attempted door slam spoiled by the slow hinges.

Josh collapsed on the lower bunk. Belatedly, he realised he really was angry enough to physically throw Joy out – and that realisation scared him. He lay back on the bed, screwed his eyes shut. He could feel a headache coming on. _This damn city …_ Eve would have to wait a while. He ought to calm down properly first.

* * *

That night in National Park, light and music filled the plaza. Two rows of cheri trees formed a wide space in the middle, their boughs hung with dozens of lanterns. Their low, broad crowns sheltered an array of round wooden tables, whilst couples danced across the golden-brown brickwork paving to the Gold and Silver Waltz.

Josh was seated at the north-west side. It was a pleasant place to sit, in the cool night air, listening to the orchestra, with the blossom overhead like an awning of flowers. He glanced at the guy sitting opposite – a decent fellow, a student from Elemental Academy visiting Goldenrod with his girlfriend for spring break. Josh leaned back in his chair and sipped at his whisky-on-the-rocks – from a plastic tumbler, but at least it was the right shape for a whisky glass. He allowed himself a brief smirk at the sight of all the taller, broader, manlier men obviously uncomfortable dancing in formal wear. Josh was in formal wear as well – all in black, but for his dark blue tie. His waistcoat was embroidered with a complex pattern of cogs and gears in grey and silver thread.

"How old are you again, actually?" Reggie asked, only to look away.

"Twenty-one."

"I actually thought you'd be older," Reggie laughed. "Though not by much!" he added hastily. Just then he got up to greet his girlfriend; Josh glanced in that direction and saw – Eve.

Eve was wearing a black silk cheongsam patterned with sinuous dragonair designs in glittering gold brocade. She'd somehow managed to braid her hair together at the nape of her neck, together with a reduced Poké Ball. Josh paused with his whisky tumbler halfway to his mouth. This was unexpected.

"Don't we look dashing tonight," she commented. Josh lowered his whisky. Eve was actually wearing perfume for once.

"Well, aren't you going to ask me to dance?" she said.

"I don't dance."

"Coward," she said, smiling, and headed for the bar.

"Coward," he repeated after she'd gone. "Coward, is it!"

Eve leaned against the counter of the open-air bar and gave the barman a sharp look. "Yes, I'm sure," she said sharply. "I'll have a brandy."

"That one's on me," Josh said. "Unless the lady would care to dance?" He stood with one hand held formally behind his back, the other held out invitingly. Eve smiled doubtfully and put her hand in his.

Josh led his friend gently out onto the dance floor. The orchestra was still playing the Gold and Silver Waltz. He bowed; Eve bobbed a curtsey in return. He took her into a ballroom hold – her right hand in his left, his right hand on her shoulder blade. It had been years since he last waltzed, but his feet somehow remembered the steps. Unsurprisingly, Eve was an entirely adroit dancer.

"That waistcoat is very you," Eve said after he twirled her round a couple of times. "Gears for the boy from industrial Mulberry Town."

"It was a gift," Josh said, smiling despite himself. "From Adèle – I mean, a friend of the family."

"I never thought I'd see you bow!" Eve giggled. "You don't even bow to gods!"

"I don't respect gods."

The night breeze showered them with cheri blossom, each petal dancing with the others. Eve giggled, and slapped Josh's arm playfully with her free right hand. "You said you couldn't dance!" she said accusingly.

"No," Josh replied patiently, "I said I didn't dance."

"Where did you learn to waltz, you commoner," she teased.

"Aunt Cassie decided she wanted a touch of class for her wedding."

"Liar," Eve said. Josh moved into promenade – side-by-side and a little behind her, holding her left hand in his over her shoulder, right in right. "You haven't missed a step. Oh look, there's Miko and Reggie!"

"They were thorough lessons," Josh said sourly.

Eve was in the mood to dance, judging by her refusal to sit down after the first dance. The next piece was simpler, just the strings and piano. "Josh, check it out!" Eve whispered. "Whitney at two o'clock!"

Josh twirled her round to change direction sightly. The Goldenrod Gym Leader was holding court at a table under a tree, legs languidly crossed, talking excitedly with a bunch of other girls. Whitney was dressed for the occasion; what looked like rubies sparkled from her ears. "Are you kidding, I never ever miss a Tourney!" she was saying.

"Quite an exciting neckline, don't you think?" Eve whispered.

"Shh, never mind her cleavage!" Josh whispered back.

"No way, you're all entering?" Whitney enthused. "Ahhh, I just _love_ the Tourney – no boys to overshadow us, amirite?"

There was a ripple of agreement from her courtiers. A pang of guilt shot through Josh's chest. He kept his face carefully still and led Eve round in a circle, to stay in earshot. "Are we scoping out rivals?" she whispered.

"Raichu is my ace," one of the girls was saying. She had a strong upper-class Goldenrod accent. "Nearly any pokémon falls if you slam a thick enough Thunderbolt through it."

The girls were helpfully talkative. The raichu trainer was an Electric-type specialist, with a tendency to think that sheer voltage would carry the day. Josh was positive that her friend was Casey from Violet City – the last time he saw her she had been wearing nothing more than a towel, but that bored expression was unmistakable. Two of the trainers were beginning to raise his suspicions. One was a shortish girl wearing a clutter of gold hair decs; the other, a very dark girl in a scarlet double-breasted blazer.

"Eevee. We should keep an eye on the two Unovans. They're participating in the conversation but they're not saying anything about their own pokémon."

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking they're smart enough to scope out the competition," Josh said grimly. Which meant that they'd be paying more attention to him during the Tourney than he'd like. He hastily steered them away just as the second dance was ending.

"You ok, sweetling?" Eve asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ok," Josh said haltingly. "It's just … look, I'm sorry I've been difficult to live with these past few days."

Eve pulled him into one of her forceful hugs. "It's ok. I'm sorry my cousin is such a pompous bitch."

"... I think I prefer you without the perfume," he said.

Eve laughed, breaking the hug. Towards the north a firework screamed up into the night and detonated in a flower of silver – the first of a display that lit up the sky.

"I think I'm ready for bed," Eve announced.

"Yeah, sure …" Josh said vaguely, giving the aspiring Tigerlilies one last uneasy look.


	25. The Girl from Goldenrod City

**Chapter Twenty One – The Girl from Goldenrod City**

_**Joshua**_

"Wasn't the plaza beautiful tonight?" Eve said softly.

"Yeah, actually," Josh replied, lying awake in the top bunk. The thin Millennium Centre curtains let in rather more light from the street than he would like. "Lamentably, we don't have cheri trees in Mulberry Town."

"See! Dancing wasn't so bad then, was it?"

"You shush, you."

Eve went quiet for a moment. After a while she said, "Have you ever been in love?"

"In love?" Josh thought back to the warm, inconclusive mess that passed for his romantic life. "No. Nothing so intense. You?"

"Yeah. I was, once. Then he betrayed me."

The strange thing was, she didn't sound angry or bitter, just … hurt. He lay in thought for a while, trying to work out how to put into words what they both already knew.

"The ancients had two words for love," he said slowly. "Eros, romantic love, and philia, usually translated as companionship. When it came to Linda, or Adèle, I was always anxious." _And always out of my depth._ "I like this better," he said.

"Me too," Eve said quietly. "Tourney starts in six days!"

Josh said nothing, listening to Eve breathing as she lost interest in the conversation and drifted off to sleep. He wasn't feeling remotely enthusiastic about the Tourney. The two Unovans, the shortish one and the one in the scarlet blazer, were playing on his mind. In hindsight, it was idiotic of him to think that he'd be the only one scoping out the competition. Nevertheless, it was still unnerving – doubly so, if they weren't just scrutinising his pokémon.

_Scoping out the competition … _Josh rolled over and tried to turn a deaf ear to his conscience.

"You can't just ignore me, you know," his conscience said, and manifested in front of him. It looked very much like a six inch version of himself, with the discreet addition of a pair of feathered wings. He ignored Josh's cold look and casually spun his sceptre. It was silver, topped with a spherical white gem.

"Go away. You're just a metaphor," Josh told him. He rolled over, trying to turn a blind eye as well as a deaf ear. The shoulder-angel fluttered back into view.

"Hey, be glad I'm here," he said, waving his sceptre admonishingly. "If I weren'there _you'd_ be a sociopath."

"Actually, if _we _weren't here, he'd be a sociopath," a disembodied voice said, which then embodied itself, incarnating untheatrically. "Am I late for the psychomachy?"

"Unfortunately not, Pheiton," the first shoulder-angel said testily. Against all reason, this second angel was a twin to the first, except instead of a sceptre he was leaning on a highly-polished sword.

"Hold on. Before we go any further, which one of you is supposed to be the evil one?" Josh said.

Pheiton gave him a jaded look. "You know it's not that simple."

"The hell it isn't!" the first angel persisted. "Josh, the Tigerlily Tourney is gender-exclusive for a reason."

"Forget principle, utilitarianism is king!"

"He said 'king'! You heard him, he said 'king', he's a royalist!"

"Fuck you, Jophiel!" Pheiton yelled.

"Remember all those girls at the dance," Jophiel said, "all excited about being in an all-girl tournament? Remember Whitney, excited about _watching _the Tigerlily Tourney? He'd be lying to them."

"No, no, let's get empirical!" Pheiton countered. "Who would be hurt by Josh entering?"

"I'm gonna hurt you!" Jophiel yelled, levelling his sceptre at Pheiton. The gem started to glow a pale blue.

"Oh, bring it on!" Pheiton roared, brandishing his blade, which burst into white flame.

"Enough!" Josh commanded. "Have you two idiots forgotten that the only reason I'm entering this damn Tourney is for Eve's sake?" Both angels opened their mouths simultaneously. "I said enough! I'm not arguing with a pair of damn metaphors, now go away."

They wisely decided to disincarnate in a couple of puffs of grey smoke. Josh closed his eyes but didn't sleep, kept awake by indecision. Without him, Eve couldn't enter the Tourney. It wasn't just about winning to her, it was a a matter of pride … and yes, possibly self-esteem.

_Except all this will be irrelevant if I can't pass as a girl …_

* * *

It was Wednesday morning, and the L-train rattled through the tunnel with a constant loud _tak-tak tak-tak, tak-tak tak-tak_. The L was bustling, as usual. Josh was nursing a bad mood. The stress and pace of life in Goldenrod was giving him daily headaches. It was getting on for 10:20 already – he was supposed to be meeting Eve at eleven.

"The next station is: The Underground. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform."

Josh stepped out onto the platform, and briefly contemplated driving a hobnailed boot into the instep of a salaryman who just barged him aside, fixated on his phone. The citizens of the Sunshine City didn't believe in hasty apologies, apparently. He hitched his seed canister further up his back; leaving it in the Centre just made him anxious, so he'd taken to carrying it around in a draw-string bag cannibalised from his sleeping bag. On the far side of the station was the archway through to the Underground. The sign above the arch read 'Goldenrod Underground: As Above, So Below'.

Finding a specific café in the Underground proved to be more difficult than he'd expected. The Underground was just over two miles long, north to south, with a multitude of branching alleys – it had an eclectic, slightly run down appearance. In places, the street was mainly illuminated by the light spilling from shop windows.

Josh found the café he was looking for on the south side of the street, in a patch of twilight created by a row of failing light panels. The façade was rather tasteful, with the name 'Holly's' painted by the door in neat copperplate script. A bell above the door gave a dignified tinkle as Josh entered. The interior had a restrained, polished aesthetic – handsome dark mahogany furnishings, elegant brass sconces on the walls, bookcases in one corner stacked with leather bound volumes. The waitresses' uniforms, too, were understated. One of them approached Josh as he glanced around the café looking for Eve, putting on a smile with practiced ease. She had on a cute little formal blouse, a short black skirt, and a ridiculously short red tie.

"Welcome, my lord," she said. "How was your journey?"

"What? Er, irritating," Josh said distractedly.

"Miss Joy will be arriving directly. Lisbeth, attend to the Earl of Mulberry."

A blonde waitress tugged gently at his arm. "Right this way, my lord. If it please you."

Josh couldn't help but wince at her deferential manner. There weren't many other customers in the café, just a few students and someone hidden behind a newspaper. He sat down, and drew out a book from his jacket.

_Seedlings will appreciate warm conditions with plenty of access to light – Poké Ball acclimatisation should not be done before sunset. For the first few weeks, general health and well-being can be promoted through berry juice feedings (see below: Diet) _-

"Coffee, my lord," Lisbeth said. Josh didn't notice her at first, immersed in seedling care. Until, in his peripheral vision, he spotted her going down to her knees.

"What on earth -" he started.

"Sugar for your coffee?" Lisbeth asked, adding three cubes of brown sugar anyway. She didn't get up.

"I'm used to stirring my own coffee," Josh said meaningfully.

"But I am your lief and loyal liege-girl!" she protested.

"That's as maybe, but – wait, _lief?_"

"Mmhm!" Lisbeth said innocently.

"Uhh …" Josh said, blushing at the implications. "I'd as lief stir my own coffee, thank you."

Lisbeth endeavoured to pull an adorably sulky face, but desisted.

_Yellow apricorn juice is an excellent base for any supplement, encouraging general robustness during the critical first month. Roselia tend to dislike the sour taste – this can be balanced by any sweet fruit, but I recommend ripe petayas for building future tolerance to Bug-types -_

"My lord, you're so _tense!_" a third waitress interrupted. Josh realised he'd been trying to massage his own shoulder. She gently moved his hand aside and took over.

"You know that's not, necessary," he said. _Though that does feel rather nice …_ he stopped her hand in place. "Sorry, would you and your colleagues do me a favour? I'd like some space, please. Sorry, thank you."

He glanced at his Pokégear. Eve was late – that was a little suspicious. _Hold on. _Doubly suspicious, that the staff knew he was from Mulberry Town … _that fellow with the newspaper hasn't turned a page._

"I knew it's you behind that," Josh said pointedly.

The newspaper flopped down, revealing Eve. She moved over to his table without saying anything, contriving to look annoyed when she obviously wanted to smile.

"I should have known you were behind this."

"Maybe."

"Eevee, why did you do this," he said, trying to keep his tone as light as possible.

"I wanted to do something nice. As a thank you for the Tourney. Is that ok?" Eve said anxiously.

"Eevee, I appreciate it, I really do, but …" he paused and laughed weakly, wondering if Eve would understand. "I come from a family that tends to _take_ orders in their work. All this servility, I just … feel like a class traitor, you know?"

"Well … alright then," Eve said, visibly disappointed but smiling anyway. She sighed heavily. "So … how's it going?"

Josh altered his posture, sitting more upright, bringing his knees together. He switched to his feminine voice, saying: "I think I've got the voice down."

"Say something else like that," Eve said, giving him a thoughtful look. Josh waved his hand in an 'I don't know' gesture.

"From the mouths of the Sea the south wind flies, from the sandhills and the stones,

The wailing of the gulls it bears, and at the gate it moans."

"Hmm ..." she said. "You are a good mimic."

"Thank you," Josh said dutifully, "but I'll still speak as little as possible, anyway. To that end, I've devised a simple battle sign language to avoid calling orders too much."

"It does help that pokémon trainers are an odd lot," Eve commented. It was something they'd discussed before. Pokémon trainers tended to be individualistic, sometimes to the point of flat-out eccentric. In theory therefore, Josh's own apparent oddness brought on by the pretence shouldn't stand out so much.

"I see you're taking care of your hands," Eve said. "I like the clear nail polish."

"I quite like the moisturising, I'll admit," Josh replied. "I used to have to moisturise a lot when I was marathon-making Metal Earth. You have no idea what copper dust can do to your hands."

Eve leaned forward, an iniquitous smirk on her face. "Are you looking forward to the make-up?"

"No."

"We'll keep it subtle!" Eve said, looking at his face as if it were a new piece of timber. "A bit of mascara, a nice light shade of lipstick …"

Her face was at once sunnily enthusiastic and mischievous. "You know there's only so much we can do in the time we have before the Tourney," Josh said.

"We've got five days to practice," Eve giggled and winked at him. "I'll make a girl out of you yet."

* * *

'Eclectic' was an apt way to describe the Underground. The street was jammed full of independent, quirky, specialist stores. Among the second-hand book stores, claustrophobic newsagents and coffee shops were specialist fashion boutiques and small-scale eateries. The denizens of the Underground were often just as quirky. Girls in their dojo uniforms roamed the street looking for battles; would-be delinquents lurked in side-alleys. A furlong down from Holly's, the street was narrowed by the press of the berry market. Just beyond that, in a small square, was the coordinator's market. For some reason, Eve paused to browse through Poké Ball Seals. At the edge of the square, a young man in a black beret was reciting poetry.

"Radiant cool, crazy nightmares -"

"What are you thinking, Eevee?" Josh asked.

"A million delicate threads,

On the pillows of a celibate bed -"

"Don't know yet," Eve said, idly inspecting a pack of star Seals. "Just the wheatgerm of an idea."

"A brilliantly desolate spread,

Another widow goes … where etiquette led."

"Smoke and fire!" Josh cursed. "He calls _that _poetry?"

"Who?" Eve followed his line of sight. "Hey, that's what we were looking for!" she exclaimed, pointing out a store behind the 'poet'.

The storefront read 'Modern Vintage: Discount fashions'. Most of the floorspace and about half of the wall space was taken up by racks of garments. Josh looked around at all the girl's clothes apprehensively. He really hadn't been looking forward to this. Eve looked around cheerfully with a thoughtful "Hmm …"

"Dresses or skirts," Josh reminded her unenthusiastically.

"Gotta hide those bulges, right?" Eve giggled, browsing through the racks. "Aha!" she said, producing a pleated skirt with a flourish. "Navy blue, nice and inconspicuous."

"Nice and short," Josh pointed out.

Eve gave the skirt a brief look. "Fine!" she said petulantly.

"It needs to be something more like, er, this," he said, selecting a rather longer skirt patterned in green tartan.

"Do you _want_ to look like a schoolgirl?"

Josh suppressed a sigh. _I'm supposed to look convincing, not bloody fashionable,_ he thought irritably, screwing his eyes shut for a few seconds – before quickly darting behind a carousel of dresses. He warily leaned round his cover, so he could surreptitiously see out into the street.

A couple of the girls walking by were frustratingly familiar – Casey, again, and the raichu trainer. Neither were looking in his direction, fortunately. From this distance, he could catch some of their conversation.

"I can't believe we had to, like, trek this far for that belt," Casey said.

"Think I saw an Eviolite back there. You could use that for your aron."

"Screw it, Morgan, let's go to Caligeri's."

"What the hell, boy scout, you just disappeared," Eve complained.

"Tigerlilies in the Underground," Josh explained sotto voce. "Can't be seen buying the clothes I'll be wearing at the Tourney."

"Now that they're gone can we get back to buying clothes, then?"

"Yeah, fine," he said, watching them walk away.

"Awesome, because you're going to look so cute in this blouse."

Josh sighed, but quietly. He wished Eve would be less enthusiastic about it. She seemed to be enjoying the chance to dress him up. Admittedly, she was staying within the parameters of their own design brief, more or less. The key, according to everything they'd read, was to use subtle feminine cues to telegraph 'girl'. _Ah, I'm not being fair_. She might be having fun, but she was also taking it seriously, no half measures.

"Oh, how about this?" Eve said, pointing something out. It was a beige-coloured sweater dress, long sleeved with a high turtle neck. The garment was probably designed for a taller woman - on Josh it looked like it would be between thigh- and knee-length. "Paired with some jeans," Eve continued. "Tight enough to show your curves, long enough to hide everything else?"

"Hmm." _We might get away with that_. He inspected the price tag out of habit. "Buy one get one half price."

"Oh," Eve said, mildly surprised, "might as well get two."

"I'm going to let you get those, then," he said, starting to make his way out the store.

"Wait, wait, what size?"

"Small! It's always small."

Josh leaned against the wall outside to wait. _I reckon I could deal with that dress._ There was a craft shop opposite, a hardware store fifty yards down from that. He wondered whether Metal Earth would have been more profitable with access to Underground suppliers.

"So where next, Madame Chanel?" Josh asked Eve when she reappeared.

"Accessories!" Eve declared brightly. "You're going to be prettier than me when I've finished."

"You always were ambitious," he said drily.

They strolled off northwards, wending their way through the crowds. The afternoon was bringing more shoppers into the Underground, obliging them to walk much closer together. Eve insisted on browsing Pokégears at a trainer tech store.

"The Voyager would be great for you," she said. "It's just as hard-wearing as your Landranger, but, you know, better."

"Oh I don't deny it. Still couldn't afford the mobile internet subscription."

Josh swung his seed canister round to his chest, to keep it from being bumped by passers-by. He quite liked Eve being this close. He liked her familiar scent in this annoying city. Slowly, without quite knowing why, he reached over and gently took her hand. Immediately, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Eve laced her fingers through his.

"Come on," she said, towing him away. "We've got to get you a bag, at least."

* * *

Eve was right: the Underground was a good place to hunt for bargains. They'd found a hodge-podge of accessory stalls in a side-alley, just past the red and gold frontage of a Dharmic temple. Eve was haggling over the price of a bag – a small satchel, nicely practical, its sides lined with Poké Ball clasps.

Josh was less sure about the hats, though. Eve picked up a dark blue bowler, spun it and tried it on. "How do I look?"

_Adorable_. "Absurd."

"Hmm … you need something different, though."

Josh inexpertly tucked his hair back behind his ears. At nigh-on two months since his last haircut, it was currently an androgynous mass of chin-length curls - not cutting it on arrival in Goldenrod was a deliberate decision on his part, to avoid faffing around with wigs. It was just as well his hair grew quickly, something he never expected to be grateful for.

Just then, his Pokégear started to ring from his wrist. Josh glanced at the caller ID and promptly silenced it. "Don't need that right now."

"Your dad was calling again, huh," Eve said. She picked up a white cloche hat, its bell-shape bedashed in pink floral designs.

"Possibly," Josh replied shortly. "The less he knows about the Tourney, the better."

Eve said nothing, turning the cloche over in her hands and looking at the tag unconvincingly. "You can say it," Josh said.

"Where does the, friction, come from? Between you and your dad," she said hesitantly.

"Well … Dad likes – insists on things being done his way. And his advice sounds an awful lot like instructions."

Eve gave him another of her thoughtful looks. She abruptly jammed the hat onto his head. "We'll need to get your hair done," she said, playing with the curls behind his ear.

* * *

Josh yawned at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. It had been a long afternoon, and a shower had gone a long way towards scrubbing off the stress of the city. _Would that I were in the Heartwoods right now._

"Hey, take your time with this!" Eve called through the door. "You need to shave as close as you can!"

"Eve! I at least know how to shave!"

A quiet shave with a fresh razor ought to be more relaxing than a damn uncomfortable massage. He supposed the afternoon could have been worse. The Underground was very much a place for misfits, subcultures and assorted square pegs. In that context, a young man going into a hairdresser's for a distinctly feminine haircut wasn't all that unusual. _And since I _am _a square peg …_

He paused his shaving to consider his new haircut. The best time to assess it wasn't while pulling shaving faces, admittedly, but he had his doubts. His stubborn curls had been relaxed into a shoulder-length cascade of fierce waves that constantly threatened to tighten up into ringlets. Rather worryingly, the hairdresser had managed to find more than one grey strand hiding amongst the black. _Actually … the waves are kind of cute._

Josh took his time finishing his shave, ignoring the sounds of Eve's impatience from the main room. Afterwards, he turned his attention to the jeans hanging from the peg on the door. Girl's jeans, no surprise, but otherwise unremarkable. They felt awkwardly tight, though, compared to his own jeans.

"Alright, I'm decent," Josh said, unlocking the bathroom door. "There's not enough room for me in these," he complained.

Eve gave the jeans a critical look. "The bulge is more noticeable than I'd like," she said.

"I don't know whether to be pleased about that," he said drily, firmly pushing her chin up and her gaze away from his bulge.

"Oh! Guess what arrived today," Eve said. She beckoned him over to her bunk – there was a cardboard box on the end. "Behold. Your new tits."

His 'new tits' turned out to be a bra, pre-filled as it were, with a pair of foam breast forms. "Are you sure about the size?" he said doubtfully.

"Hey, they have to be big enough to be noticed. Besides, you'll only be a bit bigger than me."

Josh made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan. "Alright, pass 'em here."

He turned the whole apparatus over in his hands quizzically. The foam forms were ensconced within a soft cotton covering – Josh was faintly amused to see that Eve had fixed them into the bra with a neat surgical suture.

"They ought to be a modest C on your chest," Eve commented.

"I'm positive they can't just be made of foam."

"I bought the weighted kind," Eve explained. "So they'll feel slightly more lifelike on your chest. The heft is pretty lifelike."

"I'll take your word for it," he said, trying not to sound too glum.

"Come on, let's get this fitted."

Reluctantly, Josh slipped the thing onto his shoulders, rather grateful that for once Eve wasn't making this more awkward. _I'm never going to get used these,_ he thought, as Eve adjusted the straps with a series of deft tugs.

"I really appreciate this sweetling."

"Yeah, I know," Josh said in his feminine voice.

"Do you want to leave it a bit longer?"

"No. No, let's do this," he said, arching his back in discomfort. "No point in waiting."

* * *

A very modest crowd of spectators had gathered around the Club battlefield to watch the imminent match. The westering sun threw long shadows across the dirt, but there was a chill in the air. Josh stepped up to the trainer's box, heart fluttering like a panicking butterfree. His jeans felt too tight, the weight of the breast forms on his chest strange. The irrational feeling that every single spectator was scrutinising him dominated his thoughts – despite the fact that about half of them were obviously paying no especial attention to himself, or his opponent.

_Indomitable as a glacier._ Lorelei never let herself get intimidated by a crowd, and neither would he. Josh looked across the field to his opponent in the opposite trainer's box, a teenager in a grubby hoodie with a nimbus of cigarette smoke twirling lazily around his head.

The Club referee cleared his throat loudly. "Attention please! This Club Battle between Isaac Edelson of Violet City, and Melissa Evans of Marion Town is about to begin! Each trainer may use three pokémon and both may substitute freely! Begin!"

They released their pokémon simultaneously – Josh said nothing as he selected Fionn's Love Ball. She immediately phased out-and-in so she could see both her trainer and her opponent.

"Rock on, Axel!" Isaac said, throwing a Premier Ball underarm. Axel was a dinosaurian pokémon with stony scales and a ruff of primitive feathers at the back of its neck. Its oblong head was huge, the size of its entire body, and most of that was jaw. _A_ _physical attacker, or I'm a mankey's uncle._

Josh signed some orders – arms crossed saltirewise, diagonal slash up and left, down and right, up and left again. _Defensively, Psywave, Will O' Wisp, Psywave._

Fionn pretended to turn away from Axel, then sharply spun back, battering it with a wave of bluish energy rings. Axel let out a nasal cry of pain and narrowly scampered away from the ethereal Will O' Wisp.

"Rock Polish, dude!" Axel started to speed up, dodging and jinking around the Psywaves. Josh let Fionn have her fun.

"Ah, screw it!" Isaac spat, throwing his cigarette on the ground. "Roar it out!"

Axel opened its huge mouth wide and howled. Fionn's shriek of surprise was abruptly cut off – in the blink of an eye she dematerialised into a red blur and flew back to her Ball as if blown by a gale. Ivysaur's Poké Ball leapt off its clasp and burst open. Josh found himself wavering, reluctant to call any orders but unable to get an immediate line of sight with Ivysaur either.

"Haha, got you dude!" Isaac catcalled. "Axel, Ice Fang."

Condensation poured from Axel's mouth as it charged Ivysaur, head held low. Ivysaur didn't wait for instructions and attacked with his Vine Whips – his adversary dodged a couple of blows, but he was too practiced at the move. He seized Axel by the shins, using its own momentum to drag it off its feet. Reinforcing his grip with all four vines, Ivysaur threw it across the field for good measure.

_Damnit. Now or never. Concentrate, voice up and - _"Nature Power," Josh ordered as Melissa.

The ground beneath Axel's clawed feet erupted in a fountain of earth and gravel. There was a flash of fire within the heart of the detonation – Axel's cry of rage cut through the thump and rattle of earth falling back onto the battlefield. What made Josh breathe a small sigh of relief, however, was a remark from a spectator.

"Hey, she's pretty good."


	26. Evelina of Victory

**Chapter Twenty Two – Evelina of Victory**

_**Evelina**_

She was finally here. It was finally happening.

Ten thousand people were crammed into Bywater Amphitheatre to watch the opening ceremony. The seventy or so competing Tigerlilies were gathered together in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by the elliptic sweep of the crowded stands. The crowd was salted with journalists and photographers representing the battling magazines; there was a radio crew in the commentator's box at the top of the stands, broadcasting live. Eve grabbed Josh's hand and squeezed it excitedly. To the left, Whitney was sitting in the front row with her apprentices. For once she wasn't the most prominent celebrity in the vicinity – because at a podium beneath the big scoreboard, the reigning Champion of Sinnoh was speaking.

"There's an inscription on an ancient granite tablet in Amity Square, written with Unown-script. The words inscribed there completely changed my life. 'When one life meets another, something will be born'," she quoted.

"Only if it's a mummy life and a daddy life," Eve said flatly.

"Shut up," Josh hissed, clenching his jaw to stop himself from laughing.

"- yes, I used to dream of nothing other than becoming powerful by being victorious in battle. I knew, though at the time I didn't fully understand, that even the same species of pokémon have unique personalities -"

"Fancy that," Josh said sardonically.

"- that I read the inscription, I decided to get to know each and every one of them better. And then, after meeting more and more pokémon, learning more of their ways, something completely new began to stir within my soul -"

"A tapeworm?"

"Shut up!" Josh repeated with difficulty, choking back a giggle.

"- I'm sure because of our meeting today, something powerful has been placed in each one of us," the Champion ended on an impassioned note. She stepped demurely away from the microphone. Applause and cheers broke like a thunderclap; Cynthia was briefly illuminated by a staccato burst of camera flashes. But Eve wasn't watching the Sinnoh Champion – her eyes were on the woman who stepped up to the microphone.

_Victoria Pemberton! _The Imperial Champion regarded the crowd with a faint smile, graciously waiting for the applause to die down. Of course, Eve remembered, she was _Lady_ Pemberton, knighted and armigerous. There weren't many Ladies with their own heraldry, even now. Pemberton reminded Eve of a phrase her grandfather had been fond of: 'Aged like a good brandy'. Pemberton possessed a patrician air, with her fine, ivory-coloured suit and steel grey bob cut, her Imperial Champion badge shining from her lapel.

"Whenever I entered a tournament, the moment I looked forward to the most was always the opening ceremony," Pemberton said in a clear voice. "Victory is sweet. To be the victor of the tournament is sweeter still, but ah … the opening ceremony is a moment of unbridled possibility, of anticipation.

The next five battles will not only test your knowledge, and your skill, but also the bonds between you, your pokémon – and your partner. Because there is never only one Tigerlily Champion, but two. So be mindful of this moment. Because every tournament is a time that can only be once, and will never be again."

A contemplative hush filled the amphitheatre. "And to the victors, the prize!" Pemberton declared, breaking the mood. "The Champion's purse will be three thousand dollars apiece. Further to that, each winning Tigerlily will also receive a Pokédex HANDY913i. Now, to the battles!"

The scoreboard behind her ran a brief animation, showing the names and headshots of all the competitors. The chief referee stepped forward, marked out by his gold jersey, and began to explain the format of the Tourney. It wasn't for the benefit of the Tigerlilies. They'd all received a copy of the rulebook and timetable when they arrived that morning.

The Tourney Heats would be fought as a round-robin of three-on-three single battles. For the round-robin, each battling couple would be split up and placed into a block with two other Tigerlilies. During the Heats, a win earns three points, a draw two, and a defeat none. A trainer who finishes the battle with two pokémon still able to battle earns an additional point; with three, an additional two points. At the end of the round-robin each battling couple's scores would be combined, with the highest scoring couples moving on to the knock-out doubles tournament.

Eve squeezed Josh's hand again and looked around at the crowd of thousands, savouring this moment that could only be once. _Five battles_. Five battles equated to five victories as far as Eve was concerned. _I am going to seize the glory of being the next Tigerlily Champion._ Broadcast live on regional radio. Ignore _that_, Mother.

Eve sighed happily. The moment was like being in the middle of a battle. All she had to do was take the initiative.

* * *

The sea breeze rippled through Eve's hair, fresh with the subtle hint of salt. Bywater Amphitheatre was sited on the top of the headland south of the river, away from the noise and bustle of Central Goldenrod. At the back of the amphitheatre, the grounds ran all the way to the cliff edge, dotted with stubby, windswept araucaria trees, bounded on the seaward side with a stone wall. A wingull surfed on the wind, crying its lonely "Gull, gull! Wingull!"

Eve leaned with Josh against the parapet, lagging behind the other Tigerlilies. She gazed northwards along the Goldenrod coastline, taking in the suburb of Bywater, the wide line of the river, the skyscrapers of Central Goldenrod, the container port at Cheapside on the fair side of the bay. Josh was ignoring the view of the metropolis, looking out west across the sea. He was unusually quiet, eyes closed as if meditating. Occasionally he took a long, deep breath of sea air. At times like this, Eve wondered what the world looked like seen through his eyes.

A PA announcement broke the peace. "Attention please. The Block K battle between Melissa Evans and Florianne Favager will begin on Court One at twelve-thirty pm. Trainers, please report to the court referee."

Eve nudged her friend with an elbow. "We'd better get going," she said.

"Yes," Josh replied as Melissa. "Do I look alright?"

"You look ravishingly feminine," Eve said reassuringly.

Bywater Courts weren't far from the amphitheatre. Each battlefield had stands next to it with capacity for a couple thousand spectators. Eve gave Josh a quick hug before he checked in with the referee – she went to stake a claim on a seat while there was still space. The stands were steeply terraced concrete rather than tiered chairs, with a standing bay at the front and back.

Florianne appeared to be reasonably confident, tapping her heeled boots impatiently, apparently eager to start. Josh quickly checked the wind while the referee took up position, trying to pull his cloche hat further over his head. Eve felt herself tense up, wondering what Florianne could do … whether Josh would be equal to the challenge.

"This will be the Block K battle between Melissa Evans of Marion Town and Florianne Favager of Couriway Town! Each trainer may use three pokémon and both may substitute freely. The time limit will be one hour! Simultaneous release," the referee paused to give them time to select a pokémon. "Begin!"

Josh quietly selected his magnemite, while Florianne released an arbok. It was a little on the scrawny side, with scales that were a pale, sinister cream colour rather than the usual violet. Screwball materialised facing backwards, apparently on purpose.

"Arbok, utilisé Enroulement, puis rappoché et attaque avec Boue-Bombe," Florianne ordered.

The screeching rasp of Metal Sound rang out; Arbok didn't appear to react as it slithered in close with its hood lowered. _Dragon Tail, it'll be Dragon Tail,_ Eve thought confidently. Either that or an attempt to bludgeon Screwball into the ground with Iron Tail. Arbok suddenly reared up, hood flaring, and squirted twin streams of muddy slurry from its fangs. The attack was fast and deadly accurate – but Screwball simply spun up and away, precisely enough to get clear. It fired a crackling Charge Beam, landing a hit on the astonished arbok squarely in the hood.

"C'est rapide," Florianne remarked, apparently taken aback. "D'accord, Arbok, Fire Fang!" she ordered before adding something in Kalosian. Eve smiled mirthlessly. _Advantage, Josh. _Whatever trap Florianne was trying to set up, Josh wasn't going to fall for it. He signalled another brief string of orders – she thought she recognised a 'dodge' in there somewhere.

Arbok circled Screwball, followed by a blank magnemite stare, its head drawn back as if ready to strike. Fire Fang really was a ruse, since Arbok loosed another Mud Bomb. There was no telegraphing, no way to dodge – unless Screwball knew what was coming. It calmly rolled away – the slurry spattering harmlessly into the field – snapping off another Charge Beam, zapping Arbok right below the head. The snake reeled and hissed; Screwball adjusted its aim and slammed a third Charge Beam into its heart.

"Arbok!" Black, acrid smoke billowed up. Arbok was flung backwards through the smoke, thudding onto the field like a length of thrown hosepipe.

The whole thing lasted about six seconds.

"Yes! Call it!" Eve shouted. This was a good start, a very good start.

"K-O, K-O!" someone yelled.

"- unable to battle! Magnemite wins."

Florianne slowly recalled her arbok. Her arm dropped loosely down to her side. She was looking rather stunned, even at a distance.

"Florianne, select your next pokémon," the referee prompted.

"Oh. Um … bien," Florianne said vaguely, visibly pulling herself together. "Ne crever pas, Croâporal!"

Her second pokémon was a lean blue frog, sitting back on his haunches. A collar of off-white foam bubbled around his neck. A Pokédex chattered from further up the terrace: "Frogadier, the Bubble Frog Pokémon. It can throw bubble-covered pebbles with precise control -"

"Return," Josh said, recalling his magnemite. An odd move, but this was Josh. There'd be a plan in there somewhere. "Ivysaur, battle's on."

Josh signalled a few orders: _Keep to left field, be defensive … something. _Ivysaur padded a few yards to the left, keeping his eyes on Frogadier.

"Camouflage, Vibraqua, Poing-glace!" The dark blue skin on Frogadier's head turned a nondescript grey as he changed type from Water to Normal. At the same time he started charging a Water Pulse -

"Nature Power!" Ivysaur's gorgeous golden yellow flower opened – a slender beam shot out, alternately flashing orange, blue and yellow - Frogadier abandoned the Water Pulse to dodge the Tri Attack, breaking into a bounding run. His powerful legs propelled him swiftly towards Ivysaur with almost no effort.

"Harass!" Josh ordered. Ivysaur extended his Vine Whips and snapped them down in Frogadier's path, trying to make the approach as difficult as possible. Frogadier darted back and forth, dodging under and around the Whips with remarkable agility. Suddenly he changed his axis of movement entirely, and leapt up high, condensation trailing from his fists. He plunged down, struck out at Ivysaur, then hastily hopped away. It looked impressive, and drew a big crowd reaction, but the Ice Punch was only a glancing blow.

"Hé, Ivysaur, génial, de chez génial!" Josh called. The crowd noise dimmed as the quicker thinkers worked out the implications. They weren't lost on Florianne, either.

"... fils de pute," she said. Her frogadier looked comically shocked, his yellow eyes wide.

"Nature Power!" Josh snapped, Frogadier promptly getting blasted off his feet with an aggrieved croak.

"Euh, Brouillard!" Florianne ordered, rallying well. Her Frogadier disappeared behind a thick Smokescreen – a fairly sensible move. The wind tugged at the edges of the smoke cloud, pulling it out into a ragged haze that drifted over the right side of the battlefield. _The right side of the field. _Josh never failed to study the field before a battle. One thing Eve had learnt from him was that the environment of the battlefield often held a hidden advantage, if you looked for it …

Josh swept his hand vertically down – the signal for Sleep Powder. Now the reason why he had ordered Ivysaur to keep to left field became apparent – the wind picked up the Sleep Powder and dispersed it widely over the right side of the battlefield, far more widely than Ivysaur could have managed by himself.

With a triumphant "Frogadier!" his opponent hopped out from the middle of the Smokescreen, Ice Punch at the ready – inevitably, right into the Sleep Powder. He yawned hugely, swaying and stumbling. _Poor Florianne,_ Eve thought, only a little smugly. She did feel a bit sympathetic. Frogadier, along with several other amphibian pokémon, could respire through their skins. This adaptation was partially responsible for their impressive agility, but it did carry a disadvantage – a permeable skin also let other substances into the bloodstream. Such as Sleep Powder.

Eve gladly started to relax, since Josh had the battle firmly in hand. His calm, his battle sangfroid, was near perfect. _Probably determined not to let me down, may the gods bless him. Right, time for a chant._

"Cook- I mean, Evans, Evans, Evans!"

Some of the other spectators took up the chant, as Ivysaur picked up Frogadier and carefully slammed him head-first into the field.

"Evans! Evans!"

* * *

**Block K, Day 1**

_Melissa Evans: 5_

_Florianne Favager: 0_

_Dionne Page: No battle_

Electricity flashed on Court 3, where the first Block H battle between Morgan Harwich and Lucy Stack was taking place. Eve was watching the bout with Josh in the standing bay at the front of the stands; Josh with his notepad out, Eve wielding her Pokédex. Little Lucy Stack wasn't faring well, her first pokémon having been knocked out in very short order in the face of Morgan's raichu. Eve remembered Morgan from the dance in National Park a week ago – that raichu, then, would be her ace.

Morgan Harwich was dominating the battle, not only tactically, but visually. From Lucy's point of view – on the back foot and struggling to keep going – she must have looked as intimidating as a Gym Leader, leather jacketed with a mustard yellow top, eyes hidden behind oval sunglasses. Morgan was terribly straightforward in her tactics, using brute force to sledgehammer her opponents into exhaustion.

"Glaceon, use Hail!" Lucy yelled. Clouds formed above the field – _only _above the battlefield – and a stinging hail started to fall. Out of the corner of her eye Eve spotted Josh do a tiny double-take. She followed his gaze to the two Unovans in the opposite standing bay, both watching the battle closely. It took Eve a moment to bring their names to mind. The shortish girl, the one adorned with pink and purple hair decs, she was Georgia, Georgia Lovelace. The other was … _Winters,_ Eve recalled.

Just then, Lovelace noticed that they were being observed, and nudged her friend. Winters gave them both such a shrewd, penetrating look that Josh actually flinched back. Eve held her gaze, though the pelting ice obscured their view. Winters was a striking girl, her dark skin tone contrasting sharply with the ash grey of her turtle-necked blazer. She held Eve's gaze as steadily as Eve held hers. At that moment they were rivals, or at least, Eve hoped Winters was thinking the same thing -

"Heyy, awesome sweater dress! See, we match!" a woman suddenly exclaimed, thoroughly disrupting the moment and giving Josh an unexpected jolt. The cheerful newcomer was indeed wearing a sweater dress identical to Josh's. She radiated innocence, with a fetching little snub nose and a big grin. Her head was covered with a nun's black veil.

"Sorryy! Did I startle you?" she said, again in a relentlessly jolly tone.

"Iron Tail!" Morgan commanded – everyone looked back at the battlefield in time to see Raichu unmercifully slam Glaceon across the spine. There was a chorus of sympathetic groans. Lucy slowly recalled her stricken glaceon and sent out her last hope, a furret.

"Ooh, I'm glad I'm not in Block H now!" the newcomer remarked.

"Oh, you're competing too?" Eve said.

"Sure am! Me and my buddy Sister Mara. Oh, silly me! Sister Guinevere – oh, call me Ginnie – Municipal Sisters of Mercy."

"I'm Evelina Joy, Cherrygrove City. This is Melissa, she's from Marion Town."

"Hi! Then _we _are _rivals_, yo," Ginnie said with a kind of glassy zeal. "I'm real excited to be here. We had to call in a favour from the Abbess to get the time off."

"So you won't try to convert me?" Eve joked.

"Not unless you want me to!" Ginnie laughed. "I'm afraid I might get a divine thunderbolt through the bonce if I didn't!"

Eve giggled in turn, not because Sister Ginnie was especially funny, but because her cheerfulness and casual attitude towards her faith was rather charming.

"Heads up," Josh said quietly, "she's using Charge."

Fat sparks fizzed from Raichu's cheeks. "Thunderbolt," Harwich ordered.

"Rai, ai!" Raichu roared.

"Dodge it, Furret!"

Raichu unleashed the Thunderbolt. The brutal, searing blaze of the lightning-filament flung deep back shadows across the Court. Fire flashed at the impact point. And then, the deafening, tearing crash.

"Oh my …" Josh breathed. Furret was lying motionless in the middle of a large burn mark. The referee scrutinised it very closely before declaring Morgan the winner.

"Take it from a Joy, Tigerlily Morgan only just escaped an excessive force violation," Eve said gravely, watching Lucy cuddle her furret helplessly. Gently prompted by the referee, she recalled it to its Poké Ball. She wouldn't look up at the referee, her opponent, or the crowd.

"Well, you sure lived up to _your _potential," Morgan said pointedly. "You raise pokémon like that, you deserve to be a loser."

Lucy hurried from the field, her shoulders shaking. "I'm not having that," Josh muttered unexpectedly. He ran off along the stand towards the stairs at the end, weaving around spectators.

"Excuse me, Sister," Eve blurted out, chasing after him. He took the steps two at a time.

"Hey, Miss Stack!" he called out, his feminine voice cracking a little. Lucy half-turned, frowning and avoiding his eyes. "Good battle."

"What?" Lucy said, almost incredulously. Tears were running down her cheeks in spite of her valiant attempts to keep her expression neutral.

"Losing a battle doesn't make you a loser," Josh reassured her, entirely sincerely.

"I couldn't do _anything_! No p-plan, no s-strategy, she just blasted – and blasted – and now my p-pokémon -" Lucy wept, what was left of her composure collapsing like a sandcastle. "She's right, I _am _a loser, I … I -" she lapsed into incoherent sobbing.

"Every lost battle is an opportunity to get better," Josh said, without a trace of awkwardness in the face of her tears. "So get your pokémon treated, cry, if you want to. Then think about what went wrong and what you can do better next time." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Don't give up just because one girl decided to be a spiteful bitch."

Lucy stared, sniffing and hiccuping, as if not quite sure what to make of him. "Kind of want to hug you right now," she said in a small voice.

_Oh, fiddlesticks_. His phoney tits might look convincing enough but they wouldn't feel it.

"Hug your pokémon," Josh deflected. "They were the ones who fought for you."

"… thank you," Lucy said, wiping her eyes. "I won't forget you, um?"

"Melissa."

"Melissa. Thanks."

"Parliament Oak Centre is nearest!" Eve called after her. Once Lucy was discreetly out of earshot she took Josh's hand and squeezed it tight. "That was a really nice thing you just did."

Josh just shrugged.

"You didn't have to do that," she persisted.

"Harwich didn't have to be cruel either."

Eve felt a warm rush of affection well up from her diaphragm. For all that she called Josh 'sweetling' he could often be irritable to the point of downright sour. That particular personality trait got tiresome, sometimes, and the City seemed to aggravate it. And then there were moments like this. Irritated because he couldn't stand casual cruelty.

"You ready for your battle?" he said.

_'I'm not having that'_. She smiled and squeezed his hand again. "You afraid I'm not?" she teased.

"No."

"Good. Because I _am _ready!" In truth, this was no empty swagger, though she did feel a distinct frisson of nervousness. She didn't need solid strategies to be ready, or hours of study with her Pokédex. Her pokémon were entirely fit and healthy, she'd battled and drilled with them incessantly; they knew her almost as well as she knew them. More than anything else, she was excited. The feeling was like a warm glow in her belly, co-mingled with the other emotions of the moment. Excited, eager now for the chance to seize her own five points.

* * *

Ursaring roared in fury and frustration. He slashed at the sleeping Pineco but only succeeded in punting her across the battlefield. There was a flash of blue as a fragment of Reflect sheared off under his huge claws. Eve pulled a face, not because she was concerned about the Slash, but because the blow still hadn't woken Pineco up.

Hers was the first battle of Block B, against a fellow Cherrygrove girl named Joslyn. Strange to think that she may well have examined that ursaring when he was a teddiursa. Eve pulled another face and stamped impatiently. She didn't like having to wait in the middle of a battle. Couldn't be helped though; Gail was tired and Eve was reluctant to send Lyra up against such a physical attacker.

"Try a Rock Throw!" Joslyn suggested. Ursaring tore up a chunk of battlefield and bowled it at Pineco. It shattered dramatically to no obvious effect. "Quickly, um, use your Fury Slash!"

Fury Slash was exactly what it sounded like. That is, Ursaring charging Pineco and raking at her with both paws. He was making a fine mess of her ablative armour, shredding the bark into fibrous lint, but with Iron Defence and Reflect combined Eve doubted she was taking much damage.

There was a sudden crackle of detonating Pin Missiles, obscured by Ursaring's roaring as he covered his face too late. _Yes! Back in the game._ "Take Dooown!" Eve hollered. Weight made up for the sluggish speed of the attack – Ursaring's eyes bulged as Pineco caught him right in the stomach.

"Come on, um, suck it up! Gimme a Seismic Toss!" Joslyn yelled.

_Nope. _"Pineco, return. Gail, you have the honour!"

As usual, she was thrashing at the air before she'd even fully re-materialised, rising into the sky half-formed and screaming in an attempt to be even louder than the roaring Ursaring.

"Pidgeotto again? 'K, Rock Throw!" Joslyn ordered. Twin chunks of concrete whizzed through the air, each almost as big as Gail herself. _Wow, that's accurate_. Gail jinked around the first and folded her wings back to dodge the second, plummeted from the sudden loss of lift and skimmed away hardly a foot off the ground. The field surface was littered with the detritus of battle – coarse, gritty dust and pulverised concrete. Eve found herself laughing aloud. The environment of the battlefield often held a hidden advantage.

"Let's put a stop to that Rock Throw!" Eve declared, snapping her fingers. "Start with Sand Attack!"

Gail swept a blast of the coarse grey dust right into Ursaring's eyes. Eve winced – that would need to be treated with a thorough lavage - "Now, Twister, the best you've got!"

Gail beat her wings hard to stir up the Twister, shaping it with frenetic bursts of flapping. The vortex turned dark and ominous, saturated with grit and smashed concrete, lit with flickering sheets of cobalt lightning. Though she made a gutsy effort, her weary pidgeotto couldn't keep up the attack for long. As her wingbeats slowed, the Twister disappeared – revealing Ursaring, battered, swaying, and stumbling.

"Come on, get it together!" Joslyn yelled encouragingly. "You're still going!"

"Pidgeooo!" Gail screeched challengingly, rolling into a dive.

"Wait!" Eve commanded, looking to the referee for a ruling. Gail circled for a few seconds, lost patience and started to dive again.

"What did I just say?" Eve snapped.

"Come on boy, just a little more!" Ursaring looked like he was beginning to refocus.

_Hm, no ruling, ok. _"Now you may Tackle."

The thump of Gail's talons sinking into Ursaring's back was followed by a grunt and the thud of his knees hitting the concrete. Up came the red flag.

"Ursaring is unable to battle! Pidgeotto wins!"

Jocelyn was showing sterling composure with two pokémon down while Eve still had all three; although Gail was _still_ refusing to rest in between matches, Eve noted to her annoyance. _She's showing off again_, she thought, resolving to recall her as soon as the tide of battle turned.

"Ok," Jocelyn said with a deep breath. "You haven't won yet, Evelina Joy! We won't give up, so you'd better not let your guard down! Let's pull this out of the hat, Lopunny!"

_Lopunny … _The first thing she did was stick out her rump coquettishly, looking for all the world like a stout kick would send her blubbing – but then, all lopunny looked like that. _Time to take the initiative, Eevee-girl_.

"Go ahead, Gail, Tackle!"

Gail started her dive from a decent height, not as easily as she usually did and slow in transitioning from flight into attack. Lopunny casually hopped aside, forcing Gail to hastily swing her talons back and fight for altitude.

"Lop!" her opponent said, tensed her legs and sprang into the air in pursuit. Her fist flicked out, knocking Gail from the sky.

"Oh!" the crowd gasped. Lopunny's Dizzy Punch hit her in the breastbone, where her flight muscles were anchored.

_Tide has turned. _"Return, Gail. Now this is why I keep telling you not to charge around unnecessarily," she told her through the Ball.

Eve snapped Gail's Fast Ball back onto her chest, taking a moment to think. Now that Gail was well and truly spent, that left Pineco – moderately damaged – and Lyra. _I want my five points!_

"Alright Lyra!" She flung Lyra's Poké Ball up as high as she could. "You have the honour!"

Lyra materialised over fifteen feet up, punching with all four fists to limber up.

"Agility!"

"Reflect!"

The commands rang out so fast that they overlapped. Lyra repaired her battered Reflect shield with fresh hexes just in time to turn a glancing Dizzy Punch. The irony was that her ledian's flight would be entirely cancelled out by Lopunny's jumping prowess – and therefore vice versa. Her superior speed, though, would make dodging difficult. _Hm, ok then_.

"Lyra, make sure you keep renewing your Reflect!"

"Try another Dizzy Punch!"

"Behind you!"

[Righto!] Lyra called, promptly clicking her wing cases shut. A few Reflect hexes smashed, the curvature of her armour deflecting the rest of the impact. Lopunny glanced behind her when she landed -

"Thunderpunch!" Eve yelled.

\- forward rolled to escape a direct Air Cutter hit, taking a laceration to the back of her calf. Lopunny spun on her knee and met an Iron Fist-enhanced Thunderpunch coming the other way that slammed her down onto her back. She kicked out to buy herself a moment's respite from Lyra's sparking fist.

"Fire Punch!" Joslyn yelled, refusing to be backed into a corner.

[Whoops,] Lyra said tersely, Lopunny's fist burning a couple of inches from her thorax.

_Sodding Fire Punch. Should I switch to Gail? No, she's exhausted._

"Air Cutter!" Eve ordered intuitively. "Take her to pieces!"

A barrage of Air Cutters sliced down from Lyra's wings, kicking up billows of grey dust in the midst of which Lopunny jinked and leapt around the etheric blades carving gouges in the concrete.

[How fast can you run, Flopsy?] Lyra laughed as her opponent was showered with concrete shards from a near miss. Despite what the taunt might suggest, she was actually concentrating hard – Eve could see it in her movements.

"Circle, um, Throw!"

Springing up over Lyra's last attack, Lopunny grabbed her around the middle, spun gracefully and hurled her at Eve.

[Aaargh, you dratted …] Lyra cursed, her wings buzzing shrilly as she tried to stabilise herself, [fluffy arsed – what the?]

Lyra suddenly dematerialised back into a cloud of red light and returned to her Poké Ball. Instantly another one popped off its clasp like a leaping magikarp – Eve snatched it out the air without really thinking – and burst open.

Her pokémon was materialising on the _surface _of the battlefield.

"Pin Missile!" A flight of pins snaked out even as the light from Pineco materialising faded. Lopunny squealed as much with surprise as from the pain of a full flight of missiles detonating.

"Return, Pineco! Lyra, Thunderpunch!" Eve called, throwing her Poké Ball as close to Lopunny as she could.

"Um, um … Circle, no, dodge it!"

Joslyn's indecision cost her – trying to obey two orders at once her lopunny took Thunderpunch full on. Discharging electricity sprayed in crackling arcs.

"Alright, keep it up Lyra!" Eve yelled encouragingly, trying to see through the glare.

There was a sudden roar of fire. The middle of the field exploded into a cloud of shattered Reflect hexes. Lyra flew backwards through the scintillating blue shards, her exoskeleton scorched black.

_Bollocks, bollocks, wrong move!_ "Forget Reflect, use Air Cutter again!" Eve briskly commanded. Lyra vented her frustration with a saw-toothed buzz – almost a Supersonic – while she spiralled up to gain height.

"Here we go again!" Joslyn laughed. "I told you not to let your guard down!"

For half a minute there was a sense of déjà vu, until Lopunny sidestepped into a pothole. Air Cutter slashed into her shoulder; she went down violently with a twisted ankle, blood spraying from her shoulder.

"Now's our chance, Drain Punch!" Eve shouted, feeling her pulse quicken. Lyra pounced. Yellow ribbons of light unravelled from her fist, turning into green spirals that trailed behind, rippling in her wake.

"Quick, Fire Punch!" Joslyn yelled. Lopunny brought her fist up desperately.

There was a blast of green light. Lyra rose backwards away from her opponent, all four of her fists displayed. [And that's match!]

Lopunny wasn't moving. The referee sprinted over to her while the crowd cheered as if Lyra had won. Eve watched the referee with her heart pounding. _Come on, confirm it, confirm it!_

"Lopunny is unable to battle! The match and the victory goes to Evelina Joy from Cherrygrove City!"

Eve threw her head back with a relieved sigh. _We did it. Battle won, no losses. Five points. _She squeezed tight the charm she'd got from Rhia Victoria's shrine. She'd got the edge she asked for.

"Five points!" she yelled to the crowd, raising a fist in triumph.


	27. Summer is i'coming In

**Chapter Twenty Three – Summer is i'comin In**

_**Evelina**_

**Block B, Day 2**

_Joslyn Singer: 0_

_Evelina Joy: 5_

_Asma Jameel: 4_

Josh's second Heats battle was not going well.

Screwball was down, Ivysaur was injured. He had managed to take out his opponent's first clefairy through force alone, which Eve found rather disquieting. Josh didn't just throw around blunt force. He used force decisively, after carefully picking apart his opponent's strategy.

And disquietingly, it was his opponent who was in control of the battle; Dione Page, from Pewter City, with a liking for clefairy. Her second clefairy stood primly on the field, her fur shading to a coppery hue instead of than the usual pink. Eve frowned anxiously. It really wasn't like Josh to battle this way. He kept glancing nervously at the crowd instead of focusing on the details of the battle.

_Evelina Joy, you damn fool, he's distracted. _Just after the start of the battle, there had been a moment when Josh had accidentally let his feminine voice slip. Maybe some of the spectators had noticed it, the strange fluctuation in his voice as he stammered and tried to correct his mistake, but …it was one quickly grabbed her phone and hammered out a text message:

The pokemon are the centre of attention. Noone is watching you. Relax! Be yourself!

Down on the field, Josh pulled out his Pokégear and slowly read her message. He stared at the text for a while.

"Melissa. Your next pokémon," the referee instructed.

"Sorry," Josh said, taking a deep breath, as if huffing out the negative thoughts. He expanded Fionn's Love Ball, saying something to her before he threw it.

For almost half a minute neither trainer reacted, each waiting for the other to make a move. Eventually Dione made her choice. "Take a break, Aphrodite."

"Return, Fionn. Ivysaur."

Dione slumped her shoulders in exaggerated annoyance. "Ok, _go_, Aphrodite."

Sensibly making use of the brief lull, Josh signed some more complex orders. _Be defensive, circle gesture, not sure what that means_ -

"Scatter," Josh called, with a diagonal hand slash left and down. _Oh! Scatterseed. And … Nature Power_.

"Ivysaur," his pokémon confirmed. His flower briefly opened to fire a Tri Attack – his aim was off, the beam alternately scorching and freezing the concrete as it traced a line towards Aphrodite. She saw the attack coming that way and jumped aside.

"Incinerate!" Dione called. Her clefairy bowed to the crowd as if she were about to perform a magic trick, and leapt into the attack, a long floaty leap that would carry her right over Ivysaur. As if he'd been waiting for it Ivysaur dashed under the zenith of her jump, intercepting with a shotgun-blast of Leech Seeds, ensnaring her in a snarl of tendrils. She squealed in alarm, crash landed into the concrete, and threw a temper tantrum.

There was no other way to describe it. Aphrodite flailed her arms and legs, screaming shrilly and breathing gouts of flame, scorching Ivysaur's vines as he reached out to grab her. Some of the Leech Seeds actually withered from the heat and dropped off. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, she scrambled to her feet and charged the shocked Ivysaur, laying down a barrage of Double Slaps and Power-Up Punches.

"Take control! Slam," Josh said.

"Ivy! Ivysaur!" Ivysaur protested. With effort, he managed to grasp her by an arm and leg, bash her on the concrete and fling her away. She'd hardly slid to a halt when a Future Sight bolt flicked her into the air.

Aphrodite defiantly and painfully tried to get back up. "Clefairy is unable to battle! Ivysaur wins!" the referee ruled.

"Yes! Evans!" Eve yelled encouragingly. After that match Ivysaur was worse for wear; his face looked like Aphrodite had tried to play noughts and crosses on it. One of his anterior leaves was charred and curling. The green light of Overgrow was flickering faintly from the base of his flower.

"So. It's come to this, has it? You're going to make me work for my win," Dione said. The cheerful tone in her voice was diminished. Josh didn't so much as shrug.

"Well. Anyway," Dione continued. "Come forth, my ace! Ouranos!"

This time Dione selected a Dusk Ball. The clefairy that appeared from it was the strangest pokémon Eve had ever seen. Its fur was black, the dark inky black of the sky at midnight, bedashed with glittering spots of light. That dark fur totally obscured any hint of its expression. It was as if the deep night sky was showing through a clefairy-shaped hole cut into the world. It was so _still_! From the moment it materialised on the field, all it did was slowly turn its body to face Ivysaur and freeze there, still as a statue.

Belatedly, Eve remembered her Pokédex. "Uranian Clefairy, _Pixi tenebrus urani_, the Fairy Pokémon. This subspecies is thought to inhabit the Night Sky Edge."

"That's _all_?" she asked it almost incredulously. She glanced away from the strange clefairy to gauge Josh's reaction. It was a slight relief to see him waiting patiently for Dione's first move, sensibly falling back on favourite strategies. Clefairy had a diverse movepool at the best of times – there was no knowing what this one might do.

"Ouranos. Show us your Shadow Ball," Dione said. It spread its arms wide, charging and throwing a roiling purple-black sphere half as big as itself.

"Intercept. Nature Power," Josh ordered. Ivysaur's Tri Attack hit the Shadow Ball just off-centre and burst it like a balloon. _Nice defence, I like it_.

"Cosmic Power!" Dione ordered.

"Growth," Josh replied without missing a beat. The – _bioluminescent?_ \- stars across Ouranos' fur twinkled brightly; Ivysaur shone green amidst a swirl of sun-motes.

"Signal Beam!" Ouranos fired a white ray trailing nebulous wisps of magenta and turquoise. Ivysaur tried to dodge off to the side but Ouranos simply panned the beam round. Sun-motes left over from Growth went whirling off as Signal Beam blasted them away. Ivysaur yelled out in pain and frustration. He collapsed briefly onto his stomach, groaning under his breath.

Josh took another deep breath. "Ok. Scatterseed!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Dione said, waving an admonishing finger. "Magic Coat!"

The Leech Seeds pinged violently off Ouranos with tendrils flailing – Ivysaur tried to take back the initiative, extended his Vine Whips and attacked. He was too tired, and too slow. Though he cracked the concrete with Overgrow-boosted blows, Ouranos all too easily leapt out of the way. It drifted up like a shadow cut loose from earth, bringing its hands together. With a kind of inevitable finality, it finished Ivysaur off with one long Signal Beam.

"Ivysaur is unable to battle. Clefairy wins," the referee ruled. Josh recalled Ivysaur quickly. He was shifting uncomfortably from foot-to-foot, scuffing his boots against the concrete of the trainer's box. Expanding Fionn's Love Ball for the third time this battle, he said something inaudible to her before release.

Fionn let out a blood-chilling wail – Eve shivered even at this distance – fanning her hair out into a halo of wriggling locks.

"Shadow Ball!" Dione hollered.

"Misdreavus!" Fionn yelled petulantly, evidently upset at her joke being interrupted. She ducked under the Shadow Ball, only to find herself immediately phasing out to avoid another. Ouranos kept up a relentless rate of fire, forcing Fionn to dodge and keep dodging, never giving her a chance to launch an attack. It could almost have been a contest of endurance – until Ouranos threw a Shadow Ball at a seemingly empty patch of air.

The Shadow Ball screamed as it exploded, leaving behind a dark blue haze that coalesced back into Fionn. _Wow_. It was news to Eve that Shadow Ball could harm incorporeal Ghost-types. And this being the case …_ oh bollocks. _That meant that Josh was now effectively waiting to lose.

"Keep it up Ouranos," Dione called.

"Come on, Evans!" Eve yelled for what it was worth.

"Destiny Bond."

"What? No -"

At the exact time Fionn shrieked her last for the battle, Ouranos keeled over in a dead faint.

"Clefairy and Misdreavus are unable to battle! This battle between Dione Page and Melissa Evans is a draw!"

Eve started to laugh softly. It wasn't a win, but he had stolen the victory from Dione nevertheless. She ran down to his side of the field while he shook hands with his erstwhile opponent.

The first thing Josh did upon leaving the field was apologise. "Sorry, Eevee. A draw was the best I could manage, my own damn fault."

"Mmm-mn," Eve said, shaking her head. "You don't have to apologise to me for doing your best, you dunce."

"Hmm," he said non-committally. He arched his back slightly. "These damn tits are getting on my nerves," he complained.

"You wanna head back to the Centre?"

"Yeah. Could I borrow your laptop, by the way? I've got some serious research to do."

"Um. It might be worthwhile to do some light practice later. Once your pokémon have rested," Eve suggested carefully.

"They did their best. I need to sharpen up my knowledge."

Eve decided not to argue the point. She was sure that Josh would benefit from a more holistic approach to training, but, well, the eleventh hour draw proved he wasn't lazy or complacent.

The thought suddenly occurred to her that with a combined score of twelve, she would need to at least win tomorrow in order to have a good chance of getting through to the doubles tournament. It seemed appropriate, Eve thought wryly, that getting the quarter finals should come down to her own skill and effort.

_It all comes down to you, Evelina Joy, so … you've got some work to do this afternoon._

* * *

**Block K, Day 2**

_Melissa Evans: 7_

_Florianne Favager: 0_

_Dionne Page: 2_

Eve shut her Pokédex and dropped it onto the small table at the foot of the bunk – Josh's bunk. He was lying back on his pillow, contemplating the cracks in the ceiling plaster. They were talking strategy in their pyjamas again, at the end of a good day's battling.

Except they weren't, because Eve was daydreaming in the Millennium Centre common room.

"There's almost no better rush than battling on instinct," she was saying in her imagination.

"Almost?" Josh replied mildly.

"Almost," she giggled. "You can do it so long as you know your pokémon well enough."

"If you say so Eevee."

"It's a wonderful skill to have in – in _tight_ situations."

"I always seem to be learning something from you. Upperclassman," he added, only half-joking.

"Does that mean you trust me, then?" Eve teased.

"Of course I do."

"Good. Because you've got a lot to learn, Underclassman," she purred, taking off her hoodie dress in one smooth motion -

"Evelina?" someone said.

"Nothing!" Eve shouted guiltily. She focused on the person standing next to the armchair. Unfortunately, it was her cousin Riley. "Oh. It's you," she said dismissively.

"We've restored your pokémon to excellent health!" Riley said sweetly in the talking-to-trainers voice, and taking a lot of credit for a simple post-battle follow-up. She made no move to hand over her pokémon, even when Eve got up out of the armchair.

"Are you _sure _you're feeding your pidgeotto properly?" Riley continued, deliberately speaking louder than she needed to, though her sweet tone didn't change. The colour rose flaming to Eve's cheeks. In her peripheral vision she could see trainers surprised and transparently curious at the sight of a Joy receiving a pokémon care lecture.

"Pidgeotto need about five percent fur in their diet so they can digest meat properly -"

"I'm aware. My mother taught me that, too," Eve interrupted tartly.

"Oh, yes, of course!" Riley said with mock contrition. "But you dropped out of nursing college."

_Everyone heard that_. Eve's ears burned with embarrassment and fury at the blatant lie. _I'm pretty sure I could choke you half to death before anyone managed to prise my fingers from your throat, you little bitch_. Riley was good at this. In public, and with her in an obvious position of authority, any arguing from Eve would just sound like irresponsible petulance. Oh, if she were Tigerlily Champion! Accolades and honours eclipsed everything else – Riley would have to lionise her along with everyone else.

"Is that all?" Eve asked pleasantly. _Your eyes would pop out like champagne corks._

"Of course!" Riley replied sweetly, passing her all four Poké Balls as one handful. "Take care of them, Eevee!"

"Thank you, Rye!" Eve gave her a sisterly hug. After the requisite few seconds her cousin tried to pull away, only to find that the hug had turned into a steel grip. "Call me Eevee again and I'll slap your head off," she growled in her ear.

She let her cousin go. "Kisses!"

"Love you!" Riley said, equally insincerely.

Eve headed back up to the room, taking the stairs to walk off her temper. That smug bitch must have overheard Josh call her 'Eevee' once. The daydream sneakily drifted back to the front of her mind. _'You've got a lot to learn, Underclassman.'_

_Where on earth did _that_ come from? _Eve wondered. It was probably the date, she supposed … May Day, the first day of summer, a festival passionate with the accumulated lusty energy of the previous spring. In Eostre's shrine glades the sacred bonfires would be blazing and her handmaidens joyously singing to welcome in the summer. Fortunately, Eve's second battle was scheduled for tomorrow, leaving plenty of time to join the celebrations later at the Great Shrine of Eostre.

Back in the room, Josh was anxiously examining his roselia seed. Again. "Does this look like a fungal infection to you?" he asked, scrutinising a non-existent discolouration.

"Sweetling, it's in excellent health. Relax."

"Hmm," he said, perhaps relaxing very slightly.

"Hey, Josh," Eve said. He didn't look up right away.

"… yes, sorry Eve."

"I'm going out to the shrine for the evening."

Josh stared blankly for a moment before comprehension dawned. "Oh, yeah, I forgot it's May Day. You want me to come along?"

"I didn't know you liked Eostre?" Eve said, taken aback.

"I don't particularly like Eostre, but, dear Eevee, I do like you," Josh replied. "You always used to celebrate May Day with your family, right?"

"Well … yeah."

"I know it's not the same as your aunt or sister, but …"

Eve found that she was smiling. "No. No, I'd like the company."

"Ok, then."

"Thanks," Eve said. "Um. Oh, hey, I get to put your hair in a bun again!"

* * *

The day was just beginning to darken when they left Millennium Centre for the evening, amid the usual crowd of trainers. It was a bit chilly for a May Day night, but Eve was staying with her polo shirt and gilet anyway. Josh was looking like his usual self, but for his shoulder-length hair in an attractively untidy bun at the back of his head. Eve privately liked fixing his hair, since the silly boy seemed to think so little of his appearance. She wondered whether she'd be able to convince him to keep it after the Tourney.

They boarded the L-train at Penrose Street Station, taking the Jubilee line through to Long Mile Station. The Jubilee ran several storeys up, at once looking down on the streets and looked down on by the towers and skyscrapers of the cityscape. For the better part of four miles Eve had one of the most dynamic views of Central Goldenrod; passing under the shadow of the ultra-modern 14 Ecruteak Road – twelve hundred feet tall with an average apartment price of ten million – rolling parallel to the broad, strong River Stour … after a while the heights of Central Goldenrod fell away and the skyline opened up. The first street lamps were lighting up, the city's electric constellations appearing in the gathering dusk.

Josh shuffled his stance back and forth. "Much as I love my boots, they _are_ a bit weighty. Sometimes I wish I had my moccasins."

"And I bet you made them yourself," Eve teased.

"No!" Josh replied playfully. "But I did come up with the deerskin."

Eve glanced at her friend awkwardly, not wanting to ask the obvious question. "Not … not stantler?"

Josh laughed and gave her head an affectionate shove. "No! But I am flattered that you think I could bring down a stantler. No, it was an ordinary red deer, and I was lucky to get it. And I needed the meat. Long story, remind me to tell you sometime."

Night had fallen by the time they arrived at Long Mile, and the festival was very much in full vigour. Troupes of Eostre's handmaidens roamed Long Mile in wild packs, singing and playing ocarinas and beating drums. May Day was the festival of Eostre in her aspect as the Mother, the very height of spring and the beginning of summer. The festival tended to get into Eve's blood, as if Heaven were reminding her that she was still a woman.

Eostre's Great Shrine was divided from the city by a moat, on the far side of which was a thick holly hedge. A bridge spanned the moat to the shrine gate on the other side, where shrine attendants handed out the mandatory headdresses – circlets of white daffodils for the women, wooden antlers of varying sizes for the men.

"Just my luck," Josh said drily, donning the very modest antlers he'd been given. The path from the shrine gate led on through the darkness of the sacred wood to the shrine glade. Firelight flickered brightly through the trees. Drums throbbed out a slow, pounding beat.

Eve let out an elated giggle. The path had suddenly opened up onto the great, broad glade, at least fifty yards across and alive with fire and people and music. A grand old oak spread its gnarled limbs over the grassy clearing; beneath which the huge Sun Bonfire blazed, the bonfire that had burned since dawn and would not be allowed to go out till midnight. There were plenty of handmaidens here, obvious in their loose white dresses and lovely crowns of glossy yellow marsh marigolds. They meandered back and forth, performing minor blessings apparently at random.

"May Day at the Great Shrine!" Eve thought, and found that she'd said it aloud. She grabbed Josh's hand and towed him through the clearing. The edge of the glade was occupied by a circle of festival stalls, while on the left a number of cooking fires ringed the great Sun Bonfire. The air was full of the earthy smells of smoke and roasting meat.

A small pack of handmaidens appeared from behind the old oak – one of them abruptly skipped up to Josh, seized his head in both hands, and kissed him firmly on the cheek. The look of complete surprise on his face was _golden_.

"Summer is i'comin in!" the girl sang, half-skipping, half-dancing backwards. Eve's laughter faded as the handmaiden glanced at her fellows and said, "Shall we crown her Princess of May?"

One of the other handmaidens circled Eve briefly, giving her a close look. "Hmm … nope! But -"

Eve's disappointment didn't last long since the girl leaned over and kissed her cheek. A kiss from a handmaiden was lucky, luckier than any charm you could buy. On a mischievous impulse Eve kissed her back, thrilling in pushing her luck. The girl's skin smelled like the blessed smoke of the May Day fires. She just laughed and capriciously skipped away, singing.

At the north-eastern edge of the glade was the approach through the sacred wood to the oratory, and the throne room. The wood in that direction was reverently quiet. A group of girls were walking down the path, talking in hushed voices.

They both gazed down the path for a moment, in silence.

"… I'm going to go on ahead," Eve said quietly.

"Mhm," Josh said. He squeezed her hand briefly. "I'll be waiting."

There weren't any men praying here, not on May Day. Eve bought some votive tokens from the kiosk before quietly taking her place in front of the oratory – for all intents and purposes, in front of Queen Eostre. She bowed low, as a matter of respect.

_It's me, my lady. Evelina Joy. Divine Majesty, Goddess of Earth and Sea, your blood runs in my veins, one woman standing here at the Heaven's Edge. Tonight I make these offerings, in your honour and in thanks._

She hesitated mid-prayer. Being here alone on May Day felt strangely lonely. It felt almost as if there was a void in the air where her family ought to be. May Day was one of the few truce days, when all arguments are dropped and they were all just girls together, honouring the sacred feminine.

She rubbed the worn wooden grain of a votive token, before tossing it into the offering box. It went in with a clatter. _One for my sister, Alison Joy, to give her our strength._ Another. Clatter. _One for my aunt, Imogen Joy, because she gave me strength._ Another. Clatter. _One for my mother, Gabriella Joy, because I do love her_.

* * *

Back in the shrine glade Josh was patiently waiting by the eaves of the sacred wood, his seed canister slung over his back in its cannibalised bag.

"Oh, hey. You ok?" he asked. Those short prongs made him look like a yearling buck among a herd of stags, bless him. By way of an answer she hugged him tight, and didn't let go for a while. He wasn't the same, but she wanted someone warm and friendly at the moment.

"Come on, let's get some food!" she said, eventually.

"Best cure for the blues, Eevee."

There was invariably plenty of food to be had on May Day. Close to, a couple of handmaidens were roasting lamb over their fire, and both were delighted to learn that she was hungry. Eostre's shrines always enthusiastically distributed food on May Day, in celebration of the bountiful spring. The smell of the meat was gorgeous. While one of them roasted the lamb, the other – Eve couldn't help but think of her as the saucier – prepped the meat in a cheerfully rough and ready fashion, hands covered in marinade.

"I approve of this way of cooking," Josh said mildly, a man whose idea of adequate cooking utensils was one knife, one stick, and one flat rock.

"You like the hands-on approach then?" the saucier-girl said flirtatiously, though not unusually. Eostre's handmaidens represented the goddess in her aspect as the Maiden, so some sexiness was considered to be entirely in character. The bustier of the two had accentuated that trait with a breast band, rather successfully, Eve thought. They were using two marinades, rosemary and garlic, and a Maroc spice marinade – Josh keenly quizzed the saucier-girl on the recipe – theoretically served on slabs of crusty bread. In practice they just ate it with their hands and giggled at the tactile, almost primal sensation of it.

"I still think you can make a few seasonings go a long way," Josh said, tearing off a large morsel. "Open," he commanded, holding it to her mouth. Eve happily accepted it, the tastes of Maroc marinade and rosemary garlic competing on her tongue.

"I love it when you feed me," she said, and meant it. Smiling his little half-smile, Josh playfully shoved in another mouthful of lamb, starting her giggling again.

"Feel better?" Josh asked.

"Yes," she said contentedly. "Thank you my sweetling."

The pounding drum beats, long since blended into background noise, switched up to a faster tempo. Both handmaidens stopped cooking and quickly started covering up the meat. One of them helpfully handed Josh a fistful of paper towels for their greasy hands.

_Time for the May Circle_. People were beginning to line up in a wide ring around the Sun Bonfire, some of them holding hands. Eve gulped down what was left of her food and went to join them with Josh in tow. She squeezed his hand, which was not her sister's, for the comfort of it. Some of the handmaidens formed a double line on either side of the path from the oratory; others took up places inside the circle itself. All the wildness and merriment in their demeanour disappeared. Ambient chatter faded away, till the only sounds were of fire and the faint rustle of oak leaves. The atmosphere turned decidedly numinous.

Into the middle of the circle, just upwind of the Bonfire, stepped the officiating priestess. She swept her wand into the air to get the attention of the congregation.

"The wheel of the year turns, and we must turn with it!" she cried in a strong, carrying voice. "Tonight, spring reaches its apotheosis. The world is awake – this is a night of life and love and passion! Summer is i'comin in!"

"Summer is i'comin in!" Eve chorused along with everyone else.

"Tonight, we welcome the time of unions and give honour to our Divine Majesty, Queen Eostre of the Fields!" the priestess continued. She turned to face the oratory and knelt. "Dear Queen, your followers await your presence!"

Everyone but the drummers went down to one knee, including Josh, albeit with some reluctance. "Thank you," Eve whispered in his ear.

From the path from the oratory, the priestess playing Queen Eostre entered, resplendent in green and garlanded with a glorious crown of daffodils and marsh marigolds. She took the kneeling priestess by the hand and gently pulled her to her feet.

"Rise, my followers," she said kindly, smiling benevolently. There was something in her smile that reminded Eve of her mother.

"I am the Earth, mother of all that lives!" Eostre announced. Her voice was gentle, framed by the crackling of the Sun Bonfire. "I am the wheat in the fields, the fruit on the bough, the fish in the sea. I ignite the passions that arouse the hearts of men. As I create life and inflame passion, so too do all women: and we are kin."

"And we are kin!" the women chorused.

"Summer is i'comin in!" the priestess cried.

"Summer is i'comin in!"

There was a minor commotion from the other side of the glade. A man emerged from the shadows of the sacred wood, bare chested, cloaked in oak leaves. His antler headdress was magnificent, larger and more finely carved than any other man's. There was a noticeable swagger in his stride as he shouldered his way into the circle.

"I am the rutting stag, the seed, the energy of life," he declared. "I am the mighty oak at the heart of the forest. As I rut and hunt and love, so too do all men." - Eve felt Josh wince for some reason - "And we are kin."

"And we are kin!" the men chorused.

Eostre watched the Horned King with a kind of nonchalant amusement as he rounded the bole of the old oak. It was an ancient tableau. The drums started again, a slow, quiet heartbeat.

"My lady! This night is yours, and I do you honour. Let me bring in the summer with you!"

"Catch me, then!" Eostre laughed, dancing back out of the King's reach.

The Chase began. It was a ritual Eve had seen every year since she was a teenager. Every year, the Horned King would try to catch his queen. Just as she did every year, Eostre led the King in a merry dance, weaving in and out of the circle, dodging around her own handmaidens and hiding behind the great oak. She playfully teased and egged him on, along with friendly taunts and encouragement from the congregation. The drumbeats quickened in tandem with the vigour of the chase – and so did Eve's heartbeat. _Your blood runs in my veins._ Just as she did every year, Eve felt completely, profoundly aware of her own femininity. _As I create life and inflame passion, so too do all women.'_

"Hey, do you want her or not? Catch her!" Eve ardently catcalled to let out the pent-up fizz. She laughed as Eostre riled up the King even more with a provocative little flaunt of her chest, adroitly leading him back into the middle of the circle.

Eostre suddenly spun on her heel in a whirl of green. The drums abruptly stopped. The Horned King captured and kissed his smiling queen without another word.

"This night is mine; love and passion waken tonight," she announced, firmly breaking the kiss. "Honour me, my lord, and bring in the summer with me!"

As the King bowed low and led Queen Eostre from the circle, the priestess leapt forward, brandishing her wand. "The time of unions begins now with the divine union!" she cried. "Summer is i'comin in!"

"Summer is i'comin in!" Eve chorused joyously, amid so many cheers and celebratory cries of 'Summer is i'comin in!'

Eve knew that this was all merely human symbolism. Every year the Horned King would chase Queen Eostre and their love would turn the wheel of the year. Summer would happen whether people re-enacted the divine union or not. But it felt good to celebrate the cadence of the changing season that carried you along with it. Fire was the right symbol – lusty, passionate, alive. _Pity you don't have a boyfriend right now, then you could _really _celebrate!_

With the May Circle ended, Eostre's handmaidens went right back to their usual energetic selves, some of them playing instruments to lead the post-circle singing with a familiar May carol. For once, Eve decided to just listen to the rising wave of singers.

"With small persuasion she agreed,

To see me through the bosky riggs,"

To Eve's surprise, it was Josh singing for once. He abruptly stopped when he realised she was listening.

"Mulberry Town version," he explained.

"What's a bosky rigg?"

"It's an area of high ground in the middle of the town, covered with woodland. They're not easy to see into from outside, so … a private place to be on May night. Not personal experience!" he added sharply.

_Would you like it to be?_ the thought came, unbidden. She hurriedly looked away, pretending nothing was amiss. _Evelina Joy, you get a grip. Are you sixteen or twenty-three?_

"Yo dude, what's that in your bag?" someone said.

"What?" Josh said. Eve almost did a double-take – she'd almost forgotten he still had that. There was a bright light shining through the fabric of his bag.

"Smoke and fireee," he cursed, hauling the bag off his shoulder and redundantly opening it up to confirm the seed was indeed germinating. He instantly hesistated, glancing around wildly. "Agh, what dun I do!"

His accent was getting steadily thicker. _Panic_, Eve mentally diagnosed.

"Joshua Cook, you listen to me! Put it on the ground and unscrew the top," she commanded. "Good. And now we wait."

The seed brightened and faded arrhythmically, that unmistakable living light attracting spectators from the breaking circle. Eve settled down next to Josh to watch. No matter how bright the light got, it never dazzled.

"What's tekkin se long?" Josh fretted. "Is tha' normal?"

"It takes a while sometimes. Be patient," Eve said, rather pleased she could decipher his accent.

"Ahh, it's so beautiful!" one of the watching girls observed. The seed started glowing with a constant brightness. Eve laid a steadying hand on Josh's arm. A pulse of light burst from its surface. It split smoothly down the middle, the seedcoat peeling away to reveal a tiny, curled up humanoid. It gently unfurled itself, legs and stems unrolling to form a perfect roselia seedling. The light faded. The little roselia, its eyes and flowers still closed, wobbled unsteadily and fell over.

"Awww!" someone said.

"Oh my -" Josh gasped, reaching for it.

"Tch, tch!" Eve warned, waving him away. She gently picked the seedling up, supporting it against the palm of her hand. _Ok, Eve, you know how to do this._ No pale blemishes, no obvious hypertrophy, downy anterior leaf – her ability would be Poison Point -

"Shouldn't it be bawling?" Josh asked anxiously.

"Shh." Eve gently tested the range of motion in the stems. _Balance should be acquired in a few days._

"There," she said, swiftly depositing her in Josh's arms. "She's yours."

"She?"

"Are you gonna argue?" Eve teased.

Roselia blinked her dark eyes open. The first thing she saw in this world was May Day night.

"Then your name is Megaera."


	28. Into the Wild

**A/N: **To the guest reviewer of the last chapter, thank you for your comments, I do appreciate them

**Special Chapter – Into the Wild**

_**Joshua**_

Josh inexpertly tied his hair back, half-listening to Eve huskily singing in the shower. She was spending an awful lot of time in there tonight. He paced vaguely back and forth, with little Meg's Poké Ball in hand. He still felt apprehensive about raising her from a seedling despite all the preparatory reading he'd done. For now, at least, it was a relief that she had germinated safe and healthy.

"- When shower and Sun upon the Earth with fragrance fill the air,

I'll linger here, and will not come, because my land is fair!"

_Oh how I love that she knows that song,_ Josh thought. He was glad, too, that she was in higher spirits. In the face of all the feuds, he was pretty sure she was missing her family tonight.

_When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold - _"Ack!"

Josh almost tripped over what turned out to be a discarded pair of Eve's underwear. He growled at them cursorily. Something strange had happened to her since he'd started wearing girl's clothes; for some bizarre reason she'd become steadily more careless about her underwear, and with properly shutting the door when she changed. He unceremoniously kicked them under the bed.

He was trying to read when Eve finally came out of the shower. Eve with her hair down was still an odd sight. She flopped down onto her bunk with an exaggerated huff. "Come lie with me!"

"Would you like to review that sentence?" Josh said drily.

"Pervert. Come on, lie with me!" Eve insisted.

"Alright, ye big babby," he said. "Move over, I'm not clambering over you."

Josh lay back next to her and tried to let the tension out of his muscles. It had been another long day.

"Can I have a story," Eve said.

"What kind of story."

"Tell me about that deer you caught," she mumbled.

"It's a long story," he warned.

"I'm not tired yet," Eve obviously lied.

Josh smiled at the bunk above. Eve could be such a child when she was tired.

"Well … it happened when I was sixteen, I think."

**I**

_Glasswater River, Misho Region_

_Saturday 18__th__ August 2007_

The air of Misho was crisp and clear, tasting of pine needles and summer. The river was like a ribbon of blue winding through endless leagues of wild forest. Throughout these long leagues the greenwood ruled, maples and pines and balletically straight Godwood cedars. The land beneath the trees was hilly, rough, and lonely. Between Route 53 in the north and the Lake of Rage the Glasswater River flowed through a near wilderness. Towns along the river were rare before the Johto border. Maybe, in the distant past when Misho had once been part of the Kingdom of Northumbria, the river had been a busy trade route, but now, no-one travelled the Glasswater.

\- almost no-one. A canoe glided downstream, cutting a glittering wake in the mirror-like surface of the water. It was piloted by a pair of teenagers. The girl in the stern was short for her age, with a round face bedashed with freckles under her eyes. Her long black hair lay like a sable sheet over her short grey dress, cinched at the waist with a belt threaded with a variety of canvas pouches.

Joshua Cook sat at the bow of the canoe, trying to just enjoy the moment. This was the first time either of them had been entrusted to an unsupervised wilderness journey of this length. Well, reluctantly entrusted. There had been plenty of scepticism from his dad _and_ her dad, but between the two of them they were more resourceful, more knowledgeable and better navigators than anyone else of the younger generation. Not that there was much to navigate. The plan was simply to follow the river south to Brandonburgh at the Lake of Rage, about a seven day journey. They'd need to stop at Thain's Hill before nightfall tomorrow to resupply, since there'd be no more villages till the burgh.

Glasswater was a broad, peaceful river, about two hundred feet across from bank to bank. Supposedly it was near seven fathoms deep, but who knew what lay beneath that mirror surface, reflecting green forest and blue sky? There weren't many pokémon in this part of the world, either. From the canoe they could see small tribes of aipom in the trees or the odd shadow of a wooper swimming under the bow. Once, Josh was sure he spotted a pidgeot soaring high above, flying towards the peak of Duncrag Pike.

Singing helped pass the time. "J'ai récontré, trois joile demoisel-le!

J'ai pas choisi, j'ai pris le plus bel-le!" Josh sang.

"C'est l'aviron, qui nous mène, qui nous mène,

C'est l'aviron, qui nous mène en haut!" Linda finished.

And that was the reason Josh couldn't settle, right there. Seven days alone with Linda was both blessing and curse. There was no-one he'd rather spend a week with, that was the blessing of it. For so long now he'd felt like there was a warm compass lodged somewhere in his chest, and the needle always pointed due Linda. Linda made the most beautiful baskets, and that was cool. She could make the most tasty food from whatever was around, whatever the environment, and that was cool. She was powerfully curious about apparently everything, and that was cool. And despite all that she never made him feel small or out of place and so he couldn't help but want to be near her. The curse of it was that Josh couldn't help but wonder what they could get up to if he'd actually had the bloody courage to ask her out. _Ah, what am I thinking? She wouldn't have said yes._

Josh twisted round in his seat, intending to ask her a question. Linda was singing tunelessly. Whatever the question was, it was immediately replaced by an appreciation of the view; river, forest and Linda together.

"Woss wrong with your fizzog?" she said, her accent endearingly full of Mulberry Town smoke.

"What?"

"You look happy," she smirked.

Josh never quite understood why Linda wasn't rated among the royalty of locker room pin-ups at school. She had a figure he privately thought of as callipygian; a figure he was well acquainted with by way of stolen glances, though he would never admit it.

The canoe subtly lurched as a swell passed beneath. "Did ye feel that?" Linda said.

"Ah …" Josh confirmed with a note of uncertainty.

"Where the hell is tha' coming from?" The boat lurched a second time, slightly more vigorously. Josh let his mind wander again. _Linda Callipyge, that's got a good ring to it_, he thought, wondering what she'd look like in a peplos.

He only got a moment to imagine it before havoc reigned.

**II**

The river erupted. Something huge and serpentine and scaly rose from the river, water cascading from its flanks. Its hollow, guttural roar thundered in his ears. Surging waves contemptuously spun the canoe around like a plastic bottle.

"Fucking hell!" Linda screamed, desperately paddling to stop the canoe from capsizing.

Josh's blood ran cold. That powerful scale-armoured body towered eight feet above, surmounted by a large, brutal head, its face twisted into a permanent snarl. A pervasive musky, piscine smell wafted from it. Its maw gaped improbably wide, incongruously flanked by pectoral fins and barbels.

_Gyarados … _Josh froze, transfixed by terror, his paddle completely forgotten. Another, leaner gyarados rose from the water with murder in its eyes. The first monster lunged, seizing the smaller gyarados below the head and mercilessly biting down. Huge plate-like scales crunched and ground in its jaws. It screamed, flailing ferociously in anguish. The thrashing monsters churned the river into a cauldron of whitewater.

Something warm that smelled of salty iron splashed Josh's cheek. He automatically touched his face – his hand came away bloody. The canoe pitched so violently that the gunwale nearly went under. Josh suddenly remembered his paddle and started slashing inelegantly at the water.

"Make fer the eastern shore!" Linda yelled. "We'll ride the surf out!"

"What the hell are gyarados doing in the Glasswater!"

"Shut up and paddle!"

An indigo fireball blazed by at head height and incinerated the treeline. The heat wash rippled back across the river, carrying an acrid smell of charcoal and boiling sap. Linda swore vehemently and kept on going regardless. Josh just paddled as hard as he could, hoping that she knew what she was doing.

The flight to the shore seemed to take forever, and at every moment he expected a Dragon Rage to come flaming across the stern. The noise was awful. Agonised roars, the crash and spume of water, visceral tearing … Josh risked a glance over his shoulder. The foaming waters were turning pink.

When he looked back the canoe was rapidly approaching the eastern shore, driven by the surf thrown up by the battle. Mud and gravel scraped against the keel. Heart pounding, he piled out, pausing just long enough to haul Linda out when she tripped at the gunwale. Indigo fire still burned smokily off to the left.

They fled up into the forest, two woodsmen slipping and stumbling like daytrippers out of Saffron. Linda was faster than he was, and usually she had the sharper eyes. But this time Josh saw the parasect in the leaf litter before she did.

"Linda, wait!"

"Parasect!"

A cloud of ochre spores mushroomed into the air. Linda ran right into it, her curse cut off by a bout of volcanic coughing. Josh grabbed her at arm's length and pulled her away from the spore cloud while she re-oriented herself. She coughed out thanks as they ran, and kept on running till the sounds of battle faded away.

**III**

Only when they were a good half mile into the greenwood did they dare to stop running. Linda slumped down against a tree, gasping down lungfuls of air. "Fuck … fuck me. Bastard bloody fish."

Josh didn't say anything. He realised his hands were shaking; his heart felt like it was trying to beat clean out of his chest. The forest seemed safe and familiar, softly lit by the August sun filtering down through the green summer leaves. The wholesome smells of earth, pine needles and warm leaves almost masked the tang of gyarados blood; he wiped his bloody hand on his jacket sleeve. Damnit, the forest _was _safe and familiar. But the river was now closed to them – he didn't want to think about how lucky they were. Whichever way you sliced it, gyarados were savage pokémon. If one of them took it into their head to overturn the canoe, well, that would be it.

"That's it for our journey, Lin," he managed. "I'm calling for help."

Linda just grunted. Josh studied his map for a moment before dialling. The stiff paper rattled in his shaking hand.

"Ranger Union, what's your emergency?" the operator recited.

"Hello, we've been stranded on Glasswater River. We were heading downstream by canoe, we were forced to the bank by a couple of battling gyarados."

Josh more than half-expected the operator to react with surprise. Instead he asked, "Do you know where you are on the river, where's the nearest landmark?"

"We're at grid reference MRSO, two-six-one, four-four-two."

"Okay … do you have any supplies with you?"

"What?" Josh said. He was getting a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach. "What's going on?"

The operator went quiet for a moment. "There's been a gyarados outbreak at the Lake of Rage. I'm afraid we are extremely busy."

"Oh … er. We have two day's worth of food, but I'm more worried about my friend. She's inhaled a lot of parasect spores."

"Parasect spores, okay, how is she, what are her symptoms?"

"Violent, dry cough, breathing troubles."

"Not tha' bad!" Linda claimed.

"Okay," the operator said. "I'm really sorry, but it's going to take a few days to get you out of there. If your friend gets any worse, or if you change location, you _must _call nine-nine-nine, okay?"

"Right. Er, thank you," Josh said, hanging up. "Well. We're on our own for a few days. There's been an outbreak of gyarados at the Lake of Rage."

"That explains a lot," Linda said sourly.

"Ah," Josh replied. Gyarados weren't sociable pokémon at the best of times – the two monsters in the Glasswater must be exiles from the Lake. "We're going to need the stuff from the canoe."

"I know …" Linda said. She pulled herself to her feet. "Right, then."

"Hang on, hang, on you stay here, _you're _chuffing like a damn chimney."

"Woss that gotta do with anything?" Linda asked challengingly.

"Everything! If those two gyarados are still there we don't want them to see _or_ hear us!"

"Are you -" Linda suddenly doubled over coughing. "Oh, fine! Be careful!"

"Obviously."

"I mean it. Don't be taking any risks."

"I won't," Josh insisted, wondering why on earth Linda thought he would.

Josh stalked back down to the river with almost exaggerated patience. He placed each footfall carefully, pausing every few yards to listen.

Nothing.

Trees still smouldered sulkily where the Dragon Rage had hit; waves rippled slowly in to the shore and slopped down onto the mud. He lurked behind a hawthorn bush, just in case, but there was no sign of the gyarados. Something floating in the shallows caught his eye, thin and filmy like a discarded trash bag. Bits of stringy flesh clung to it.

It was a severed pectoral fin.

_Well, that's a disquieting sight,_ Josh thought, wondering which gyarados the fin belonged to and trying not to think about the fate of the loser.

Their canoe was still intact, luckily. All of the absolute essentials they kept on their person – their knives, firesteels, maps and compasses, Linda carrying the folding saw, Josh carrying the axe. Most of the equipment they could do without if push really came to shove, or replace with a natural substitute. That brand of self-reliance was the whole point of woodcraft, after all. Even so, considering the situation he was in no mood to make do if he didn't have to. He started to unload as swiftly as possible, starting with relaying the sleeping equipment up the hill.

Josh was just hauling out some of the food when he caught sound of an innocently soft rush of water. So innocently soft that he almost ignored it at first – but then, a strange, deep, croaking roar seemed to echo across the river. Something in the timbre slid right down into the primitive reaches of his brain and compelled him to pay very immediate attention.

Gyarados was back, and it was glaring right at him.

Josh didn't even curse. He simply fled, the fear-induced flush of adrenaline overruling his tired muscles' protests to drive him away from the canoe. The greedy crackling sound of a charging Dragon Rage helped. Hardly a second later the bow of the canoe ricocheted crazily off a tree, trailing a banner of indigo flame.

The river was _definitely_ closed to them.

**IV**

Linda was getting worse.

The river had become suspiciously quiet, though a few scraps and scales had floated ashore. They set up camp in a sheltered hollow next to a narrow glade at the corner of 261 442. With their hammocks slung beneath the low crowns of a couple of linden trees, tarps pitched close above to keep off rain and honeydew, it was remarkably snug for hilly, chilly Misho.

Over the northern lip of the hollow the land fell away into a soggy dell inhabited by a slow-running burn. Water loving weeds thronged the mud; marsh marigold, watercress, saxifrage – but unfortunately no bullrushes. The western side was dense and thickety, with thorny coils of bramble shielding the campsite from the wind. Josh liked brambles. They were working-class plants, unmistakably weeds, thriving even in grey, graffitied corners of the urban maze. And from those woody, thorny, barbed wire tangles they put forth the most glorious crop of bluk berries.

But Linda's cough was getting worse. She headed off into the hills with her pikachu to get a look at the land while Josh stayed near the camp, taking advantage of the daylight and downtime to ferociously study the map. South away in the direction of Brandonburgh the river described a long, meandering arc circling the rugged, obstreperous highlands around Duncrag Pike. North, back towards Route 53, the land was considerably smoother.

Linda was gone for a few hours, not nearly as long as he expected. Usually, he'd see Lin's pikachu long before he saw or heard her. This time he swore he could hear her dry, racking coughs from a mile away. By nightfall she'd withdrawn to her hammock; her breathing was noticeably more difficult, and she'd coughed her throat raw. Josh was making tea from wild blackcurrants in the vague hope that it would make a difference. It was a decent remedy for colds but he had no idea if it would work on a fungal infection. Probably it wouldn't do any more good than soothe a sore throat.

He ducked under Linda's tarp, steaming mug in hand. "Lin," he said gently. "Tea."

She rolled over and made a nondescript moan. "Ye don't have te look after me."

"Yes I do," he said flatly. He laid his hand on her forehead. "You're definitely running a temperature."

"Mmpfh," she said, waving him away. He sat back down by the fire, to think.

Josh could feel the frustration welling up. That figure of two day's food he'd given to the Ranger Union would have been accurate enough, had the canoe not ended up as so much charred matchwood. Now he was rapidly revising that estimate down. A wait of a few days before rescue could mean anything. Under "normal" circumstances it would take at least two days to make him feel concerned, but … Linda's symptoms changed everything.

The key problem was, there weren't really any high-calorie wild foods around. There was no way he would let Linda go short while she was ill. _And how am I supposed to find enough to feed us both while fasting? _Brandonburgh was out of the question. That was the best part of four days away by canoe – it would take at least that long on foot, even without the Pike in the way. Thain's Hill though … that was only a day's journey away. _But on the wrong side of the damn river_.

"What am ye thinking about?"

"Nothing really," Josh said lightly. "Don't worry."

"Oi! I am not some urban! Don't you lie to me," Linda growled dangerously.

Josh didn't dare push his luck. "I'm thinking I need to go hunting tomorrow."

**V**

_Sunday 19__th__ August_

The morning's hunt took Josh north. It had rained during the night, turning the earth beneath his feet dark and squidgy. He was travelling as light as possible, carrying just the minimum tools and a bit of bannock in his jacket pocket. Linda's pikachu scurried alongside him, occasionally scrambling up the trees in search of bird's eggs. Pikachu was no chubby scamp from Viridian Forest but a belligerent Mulberry-chu, and had been living in a bin till Linda caught her. She was part of his toolkit, too. Her sense of smell was better than his, of course, but without a bow Pikachu would have to bring the quarry down.

Josh made a laconic notation on his map, marking the direction of some tracks. The area to the northeast was spotted with light green, indicating open meadows and sparser woodland, good deer habitat on paper. He chewed a scrap of bannock pensively. The plan was to scout it out in a circuitous fashion, approaching from the southwest to stay downwind. In theory, assuming there was enough evidence of cervine activity, he could then find somewhere quiet to wait in ambush.

_In theory. _Two words he wished he didn't have to use. Truth was, he'd never actually been on a hunt, per se. Oh, he knew how to move quietly in the woods, how to interpret tracks, how to butcher a carcass, but -

"Piiika!" Pikachu squeaked impatiently.

"Sh," Josh said sharply, for what good it would do.

There were two prevailing views in the community in regards to hunting. One side held the view that they should emulate their hunter-gatherer ancestors in every way possible, and that included hunting for meat. It was a stance Josh didn't entirely agree with. He wouldn't take a life unless he needed to. The irony of that wasn't lost on him – he wouldn't hunt unless he really needed to, and now he really needed to he didn't have that critical experience.

He painstakingly circled round west-northwest, pausing frequently to listen. Nothing. Even the pidgey were quiet. A shallow slope ran up to the meadow, a babbling burn running on the western side. He was pretty sure at least two deer had been here since the morning, based on tracks approaching from the north and heading off in roughly the same direction.

What now?

Josh stood in an agony of indecision. Stantler would probably return at dusk, but was that true of red or sika deer? _Damnit_. Josh had no idea whether there was a better hunting ground further north. He wondered if this was how most people felt when lost in the woods – not daring to make a mistake but completely unsure about what the mistakes were.

_Damn it. Damn and blast it_. It could take hours to find a better hunting ground, and he didn't have hours. He would just have to wait in ambush and hope for the best. He chose a tree as his hiding place. An oak, with the oak's characteristic low, twisty branches, growing usefully at the south side of the meadow. _Finally, some bloody luck_. About eight feet up there was a point where two branches formed a natural crook, close enough to make a reasonably comfortable seat.

On any other day it would have been an entirely pleasant place to sit. The day was warming up, the sun breaking through a grey blanket of cloud. A persistent east wind rattled the leaves and sighed through the grass, a lullaby sussuration whispering about summer. Then there was the odd sensation from knowing the absolute certainty that the only other person around for leagues and leagues was Linda, trying in vain to cough her own lungs up.

Linda … he was starting to feel like an emotional tangle on that count. Hardly twenty-four hours ago, he'd been pointlessly crushing and indulging in his own social cowardice. Now he was crushing good and hard, but the focus of it all was – well, he didn't know how ill she was, which was worrying in itself.

Time drew out mercilessly. There was nothing to do but watch, listen, and worry, and no way to mark time but by the slow, slow ticking of his Pokégear. There were no new sights, no new sounds but the waving leaves and whispering in the grass. The rough gnarl of the oak's branch steadily ceased to be comfortable, developing into a constant ache in his arse. He didn't dare shuffle around – too much noise, and the meat was more important.

Time drew out mercilessly. Pikachu scampered off, the treacherous rat, though she at least had the decency to stay in sight. She scrabbled around in the leaf litter looking for gods-knew-what. Nuts, fruit, carrion, it was all the same to her. The old habits of a street-chu die hard.

Time drew out mercilessly. Frustration rose in him like a hot cloud. The light changed from gold to grey as the late afternoon wore on to evening. Intrustive thoughts of the food he didn't have and couldn't leave the tree to find added to the worry and the uncertainty and the damn ache in his arse. And still nothing changed. Maybe he was wrong about ordinary deer being at all like stantler. _Probably _he was wrong about ordinary deer being at all like stantler. _Damn, blast and curse that bastard gyarados. _This forest was making a fool of him.

That night he returned to camp empty-handed.

**VI**

Sleep did not come easily that night. Josh lay awake in his hammock, tired but not sleeping. And hungry, too. Dinner had been what amounted to a light wild salad, since he didn't dare eat any more of the packed food, not yet.

Linda was worse. Probably. Her cough had abated somewhat, but now she was shivering and mumbling cryptically to herself.

Josh curled up guiltily. What he really wanted to do was climb in the hammock with her; for her comfort, was the reason he told himself. _Ah, but that wasn't entirely true now, was it?_ The other reason was _not _the sort of thing to be thinking of while Lin was ill, damn it. The dishonourable thought squatted smirking at the back of his mind like a palpitoad at the bottom of a pond.

The Ranger Union wasn't any more help, either. So much for 'calling them back if Linda got worse'. All he got was generic advice for treating fevers.

Something dashed along his hammock and sat on his midriff. "Pi."

"What dun you want," he mumbled.

"Pika."

It wasn't too hard to guess what she was trying to say. "Don't know. But if you want to help, behave yourself tomorrow. For _her_ sake."

**VII**

_Monday 20__th__ August_

"Yoink," Josh murmured, thieving an egg from the nest in the reeds. "Sorry, absent birdie, but I'm ravenous."

And if there were more he would have pinched them all. He immediately stopped to cook the egg in embers, simply pushing it right into the hot ash. Thankfully it hadn't 'babbied', as they said in Mulberry Town – no half-developed chick, just a perfectly good egg.

"Go find your own," he told Pikachu, "I know you can."

The day unfolded much as it had done yesterday, except with added hunger and anxiety. _Anxiety, hah._ Fear, more like it. Linda was still burning up. For reasons he didn't really understand, she'd flown into a fury just before he left camp that morning, then just as inexplicably burst into tears when he did leave.

_Tears, of all things, from Linda!_ The fever must be getting to her.

From his uncomfortable oaken seat Josh found himself focusing on every sound and sight. Anxiety turned every meaningless rustle and flicker into phantom quarry, for hour after hour.

The day was tending towards evening when a twig almost coquettishly snapped. Josh's head whipped round. East-northeast. Upwind, directly upwind at that. There was too much waving foliage and branch in the way to see what had made the noise. Sunlight scattered off flecks of dust on the lenses of his glasses, which didn't help. Had he imagined it?

"Pikachu," Pikachu said quietly. Josh gave her a warning tap on the head.

There were a few more rustles of leaves that could _not _be blamed on the wind. _Come on. Show me what you are._

A slender head appeared among the bushy undergrowth, followed by the graceful ruddy-brown body of a red deer. Josh felt his heart leap sharply – he stifled a gasp of surprise. The doe was young, perhaps thirty inches at the shoulder. She picked her way across the meadow with an apparent lack of concern, which he took as a sign that she couldn't smell him.

_Come here … come a little closer. I'm not here._

_I'm not here_. He mentally chanted the words like a lucky charm. He could almost smell her now with his inferior, human nose.

Go. He gave the order with an urgent wave of the hand. Pikachu shot down the tree head-first and raced through the undergrowth like a yellow streak. One moment the doe was looking up suspiciously, the next a flash of silver and she collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. Silence.

"Pi-kachu! Pika!"

Josh awkwardly clambered down from the oak, limbs stiff from long hours of inactivity. The doe was lying like a discarded plushie with no obvious injuries. Pikachu's Iron Tail had efficiently broken her neck. The sight seemed to drive the implications of what had just happened into his mind. Relief, blesséd cool relief, washed over him like a wave. He dropped to his knees and passed his hands across his face.

He stroked the doe's pelt with a certain reverence. "Thank you for the gift of your life," he told her. "Oh … neatly done, Pikachu."

"Pi."

_Now. How best to divvy her up? _One of the older guys in the community had been something of a traveller, in the sixties, when the Empire was still Imperial. He'd told Josh once that when the hunters in northernmost Haakono brought down a reindeer or a great elk-like hjórþr, the first thing they'd do is drink a cupful of the blood, like warm instant soup. He'd seen it done, apparently.

Josh had reason to take the old man's story with a pinch of salt. But then, as he recalled, he was also an excellent hunter. And well, he usually told very obviously tall stories. He drew his fine aron steel knife and drew it smoothly across the doe's throat, hastily catching the spurting blood in a cup from his stripped-down pack. _Hmm._

Josh usually had a neutral attitude towards blood, but still, there was something sort of grim about drinking a cup of scarlet vitae. Pikachu had no such reservations, however, cheerfully lapping at the growing pool in the grass. _Well, I'm not going to be outdone by a pikachu_. He took a small, cautious sip. Then he took a rather larger one. Maybe it was due to hunger, but the salty, coppery taste was at least agreeable – his body's way of saying 'More of that!' he supposed.

He worked quickly, feeling vastly more confident with a familiar task before him. He warded the area with Super Repel and lit a cooking fire before starting the hard work of the butchery. _Always hard work, even with good tools_, he thought, patiently peeling back the skin. The liver went on to the fire as soon as it was hot enough, for a wolfed-down lunch. In the end he had most of the meat bound in to a cannibalised rain poncho with everything else fair game for man or monster. Including Pikachu, face deep in the heart.

Super Repel would be wearing off soon. Josh washed his bloody hands in the burn and went to retrieve Pikachu. "Come on, you yellow rat."

"Chu," she said dismissively.

"Your loyal concern for your trainer is so heartwarming," Josh said sourly, stepping over the discarded skin. He'd removed it neatly, out of habit. Shame to leave it really, it was a beautiful pelt. But … it was extra weight to carry.

The doe's severed head seemed to stare reproachfully. _You'll drink my blood and eat my flesh but you won't do me the courtesy of using my skin?_

_Damn it. _"I'm going to regret giving in to you," he told it.

**VIII**

"You came back!" Linda sobbed, desperately clinging to him like a remoraid.

"Linnie, where's your dress?" Josh managed. For some reason she'd stripped down to her underwear. The girl was burning up, she felt like she'd spent an hour in a hot spring.

"Hot," she said shortly, "the, the shaymin said that you weren't coming back, that you'd gone to Brandonburgh -"

"Shaymin?"

"Yes. He had nettles," she said cryptically.

_Feeling scared _and _flustered, there's a lovely new experience,_ Josh thought, in a rather brittle frame of mind. He gently extricated himself from her grip. I went hunting, remember? Linnie, I need you to put your dress back on -"

"But -"

"Linnie. And then you can tell me how to cook this venison, ok?"

"Um. Shaymin said -"

"I won't leave you."

_Smoke and fire, she's delirious_. But she put her dress back on, slowly, as if she didn't really understand why. Thank whatever gods were listening – at least now he could concentrate on looking after her. With food, useless bloody food that wouldn't cure whatever the hell she was ill with.

Gods he was scared. Scared, and out of ideas. Nothing left now but hope.

_Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together._

**IX**

_Tuesday 21__st__ August_

Ranger John Rosenberg shifted position on Lapras' back, standing upright braced with one hand on her neck as they cruised steadily upstream – on the hunt for rogue gyarados, primarily. Westwards on the left bank of the river Ranger Fisher was patrolling on foot, likewise Sergeant Jensen on the right. They were all dog-tired from long days of active duty without much real sleep. Finally reinforcements were beginning to flow in from neighbouring Reserves and the Misho Union, but not so many that anyone could be rotated off. So many magikarp had evolved so quickly, that no-one knew how they were going to control them all. The Rocket's evolution machine had wreaked havoc with the ecology of the Lake.

Such a bland way of describing it. The sheer callous disregard for human life was breathtaking – filling the Lake of Rage, with all its lakeside villages, with bewildered new gyarados that would inevitably have to battle for their own survival. And when gyarados were feeling bewildered and threatened they tended to spread the violence around.

Rosenberg tapped his free hand restlessly against the UD6 submachine gun holstered at his thigh. It wasn't just gyarados they were patrolling for. Some of the Rockets – no-one knew how many – had fled into the wilderness to escape arrest. Which was the specific reason why Rosenberg was here. His rank was technically Constable-at-Arms, a firearms officer, insurance against any especially violent Rockets.

"Keep it sharp, lads," Marshal Henley radioed from astride his pidgeot. They banked out of the thermal they had been riding and glided back north towards the rest of the patrol. He kept an eye out for any signs of a camp. They were coming up on 261 442, and he was keen to get those stranded hikers located and rescued as soon as possible.

"Gyarados surfacing," Rosenberg radioed calmly. It burst from the mirror surface of the river in a spume of foam, roaring. "She's a new one."

"Engage," Henley ordered.

Rosenberg's lapras hit it with a sustained Ice Beam, aiming for the head. With a flash and a splash Jensen unleashed his feraligatr.

"Rosenberg, hold fire. Fly, Anemos."

Anemos gained speed with a few strong wingbeats, lined himself up on target and plunged into a dive. As Anemos leaned forward, Henley leaned back, remaining poised and upright in the saddle as the wind rushed in his ears and the river rushed up to meet them. Anemos' wings flared, talons presented -

\- impact. The gyarados thrashed its head violently, trying to throw them off – Henley seized the grab rails in front of the saddle – but Anemos took no notice and tore at the flesh between its scales with his beak.

"Back to the sky," Henley said. Gyarados tried to snap at Anemos as he took off, only to find that Feraligatr had chosen that moment to drag it back down. It turned to bite, and took an Ice Beam to the face. The two pokémon tenaciously harassed the gyarados, goading it into exhausting itself with useless thrashing and snarling.

"I'm going for the catch," Henley said.

"Right, sir."

"A slow circle, Anemos." His pidgeot swooped low and banked slowly round Gyarados, giving Henley ample time to pull a Dive Ball from the saddlebag. A nice, easy throw. The Dive Ball engulfed Gyarados and dropped down into the water. After about half a minute of inactivity Rosenberg went in for a closer look.

"Capture confirmed, Marshal."

"Good. You take custody, Rosenberg. Someone, give me a grid reference."

"Er … north side of two-six four-three, sir," Fisher said.

"Right. Nice, wide search, gentlemen, we need to -" he broke off abruptly. He could see a figure desperately trying to get his attention. "Forget that. Quarter mile upstream, eastern shore. I've found our hikers."

* * *

"I don't remember much about that day," Josh said. "There was a lot of first aid – Heal Bell, Aromatherapy … they got her out by air ambulance, but there wasn't room for me in the helicopter, so I stayed behind. Two days of, I don't know. Faffing around with crafts to try and take my mind off it."

"Was Linda ok?" Eve asked.

"Eventually. She was in hospital for nearly three weeks in the end. The parasect spores had caused a form of aspergillosis, apparently. That explained her fever and delirium … the doctors told me that keeping her fed had tipped the balance, but I'm not sure I believe them."

Eve sighed thoughtfully. "You should tell Mum that story."

_What, including that bit where I get distracted by Linda's butt? _Besides, that story wasnt anywhere near impressive enough to get Gabriella Joy to like him.

"I was lucky," Josh insisted. "I later found out that red deer aren't usually active till dusk. Apparently that little doe was an adventurous one."

"I think I might tell her," Eve said as if she hadn't heard him.

Josh scowled up at the underside of his bunk, remembering the frustration and the gnawing anxiety. "Stupid bastards. They almost killed Linda with that vile machine. And the worst of it is that none of them would have even known if they had."

Eve laid a hand on his chest. "Maybe you should believe the doctors," she said. Her expression turned mischievous. "Don't think I don't know what 'callipygian' means, sweetling."

"Ah …" Josh said, realising he'd got a bit carried away in the storytelling.

"Aww. Iron boy has red blood in his veins after all," Eve teased.

"You shut up, you."

"Do you want me to leave while you think about her some more?"

"You have a filthy mind, Evelina Joy," Josh said accusingly.

"No I don't. I'm a young woman with a healthy sexual appetite," she said with a saucy wink.

"I'm going to my own bunk," Josh said flatly.

"Aww, stay here!"

"No! You've had your chance to make fun of me."


	29. The Balance of Power

**Chapter Twenty Four - The Balance of Power**

_**Evelina**_

**Block B, Day 3**

_Joslyn Singer: 0_

_Evelina Joy: 5_

_Asma Jameel: 4_

**Block K, Day 3**

_Melissa Evans: 7_

_Florianne Favager: 0_

_Dione Page: 6_

Eve had been waiting on Court 2 for more than ten minutes. She glanced up into the stands, where Josh was lurking in his guise as Melissa, his infant roselia securely nestled into the crook of his arm. He gave her a girly little wave. Eve raised a fist in mock defiance, trying to appear completely fearless. She'd recently cottoned on to his admiration of her as a trainer. _Oh, alright_. Aunt Immey had cottoned her on to that, with an expression that radiated 'I'm so proud of you'. That was Immey displaying that peculiar kind of Joy family girl power, right there. _The kind of girl power _you _can't help but want to live up to, Eevee-girl._

Her opponent was late. This was supposed to be the last battle of the round-robin – the last chance, in fact, to earn enough points to get into the Quarter Finals. She needed a win. The certainty of that fact made her nervous, more nervous than she would care to admit.

The referee approached with a tired look on his face. "If she isn't here in the next five minutes I'll have to award you a three point win by default," he said.

"Alright," Eve said reluctantly. Winning because she had better timekeeping didn't feel much like a win at all.

Fortunately it didn't come to that. She turned up a couple of minutes later, frantically apologising.

"Sorry … sorry I'm late … I can start," she huffed breathlessly.

"Take a couple of minutes to catch your breath. Don't you even think about disqualifying her!" she told the referee. There was a flurry of spectator laughter at his expression.

The girl clutched her thighs while she caught her breath. She was an awkward-looking teenager, somewhat skinny with overlarge front teeth she'd probably grow into. The black trilby perched atop her flyway hair didn't suit her at all.

She suddenly pointed challengingly at Eve. "Now I'm ready! You'd better brace yourself, Joy!"

"Oh, sweetling, I'm always braced."

"If I might get a word in edgeways?" the referee said testily. "This Block B battle between Evelina Joy of Cherrygrove City and Asma Jameel of Fuschia City is about to begin! You know the rules. Begin!"

"Pineco, you have the honour!" Eve started.

"Arcanine, let's go!" Asma yelled.

_Oh,_ bloody _hell._

Arcanine always seemed to know how majestic they were. This one sat back proudly on its haunches, its lustrous mane rippling in the breeze. It was on the small side, perhaps – _a premature evolution? _The obvious thing to do would be to switch out. Hopefully Asma didn't know switching out would be a useless move, so … she would probably switch out in anticipation.

She took a chance. "Spike Cannon!"

"Dodge it, Arcanine!"

_Bollocks. Out-gambitted_. Arcanine casually dodged the attack, flowing easily around the flying spikes. Pin Missile would be more accurate but nowhere near powerful enough -

"Fire Spin, go!"

"Protect!"

Flames splashed around the Protect bubble and enveloped Pineco in a cloak of fire. The flames twisted into a hollow cyclone – Eve could see her hazy silhouette among the smoke.

"Return, Pineco!" Eve commanded. The recall beam split apart in a flickering red lightning-flash. Eve tried recalling her pokémon again with exactly the same result. She didn't really expect anything else. The Fire Spin was good and tight, no gaps to squirt a recall beam through. "Rapid Spin, as quick as you can Pineco!"

Fire Spin bulged out at the base, palpitating fretfully. The cyclone throbbed uncertainly and squeezed close again. _Damnit. Damnit, damnit. _Eve's mind was an uncharacteristic blank; for once she had no idea what to do next. _Damnit. She might have got me here._

Well, she wasn't going to just do nothing. "Spike Cannon!" she ordered for what it was worth. Pineco did her best, firing a spread of spikes in Arcanine's general direction. Not one hit. The obscuring swirl of Fire Spin ruined her aim.

"Ha ha ha!" Asma declared triumphantly. "In me trap! Arcanine, finish it with Flame Wheel!"

With a sonorous, lingering howl, Arcanine enveloped itself in fire. Eve suddenly realised: she did have _one _ option left. Arcanine charged, streaming a glowing trail of cinders behind it. _Thirty feet away_. Asma was grinning, totally assured of an easy victory.

_Ten feet away. Close enough_.

"Self-Destruct!"

The middle of the battlefield erupted in a ball of smoke and flame. The hard thump of the passing shockwave slapped into Eve. A hot wind blasted past, driving the shredded remnants of Fire Spin before it. Smoke stung her eyes, making them run with tears.

When she managed to clear her vision the smoke had mostly cleared. The Self-Destruct had punched a neat crater in the field with Pineco lying at the bottom, scorched back, her ablative bark armour scattered in a ragged flaming halo. Arcanine had been thrown into a crumpled heap, its tongue lolling out comically.

"No-oo!" Asma howled dramatically over the referee's judgement.

"- to battle! This match is a draw! Evelina, select your next pokémon."

"Return, Pineco. Rest well, huh?" she told her. She deserved it. That was a narrow, narrow escape – Arcanine could have swept most of her team by itself. "Alright Meowth! You have the honour!"

[What's up, boss?] Meowth said, as if he didn't know. He washed himself fetchingly while he was the centre of attention.

"Ha. Ha ha ha! Ha hahaha! Your second mistake, Joy! Go for it, Sneasel!" Asma yelled, a triumphant declaration that baffled Eve. Her sneasel flexed his claws, a constant wavering condensation cloud rising from his fur.

A disc of water rapidly formed in front of Meowth's face and fired off at Sneasel, bursting on impact into a wave of spray that crystallised almost instantly into hail.

"Since when can you use Water Pulse!" Eve yelled in an affronted fury.

[I'm a cat that knows where it's at.]

"That's not an answer you rotten moggy!"

"Ice Shard, Sneasel, let's go!" Asma ordered. Meowth tried to dodge off to the right, Ice Shards shattering on the field behind him. A brace of razor-edged darts sliced shallowly across his hindquarters.

"Get in there!" Eve snapped. Meowth fell upon Sneasel with savage gusto, pouncing on him claws-first. [Alright, let's have iiit!]

Dark fur flew as he ripped into his opponent. Sneasel's claw flicked out – and missed – in retaliation. The sudden fury and complete lack of finesse in Meowth's assault caught the weasel by surprise, Fury Swipes raining down on any body part that looked momentarily unguarded.

[I'll gut yer, you greasy -]

"Uh, try a Metal Claw!"

With a slightly desperate effort Sneasel created an opening, batting a paw aside with Metal Claw and knocking Meowth off on the return swing; Meowth simply dropped to his back and raked at Sneasel's belly with his hind claws. The combat devolved into a demented brawl, Meowth's black fur and Sneasel's dark blue fur blending into a chaotic blur, set to a soundtrack of hissing, snarling and yowling. Asma kept giving orders, to no noticeable effect.

Abruptly they broke apart, each circling the other warily as they fought to catch their breath. Eve couldn't tell who had come off the loser from that. _Alright then, time to gain the edge_.

"Flash. Hone your claws!"

"Go for it, Metal Claw!"

Flashing clouds of shifting light obscured the battlefield, the white magnesium-glare of Flash reflecting harshly off Sneasel's Metal Claws and searing after-images across both trainer's vision. Eve blinked furiously, catching incomplete glimpses of the second brawl. Meowth's howling and cursing intermingled with Sneasel's high-pitched snarling. The combatants rolled back and forth in a ball of flying claws, slashing, biting and struggling.

"Come on! Tear that sly devil to bits!" Eve yelled encouragingly. This match was rapidly turning into a battle of bloody-minded aggression. Eve wasn't sure whether Sneasel could keep this up longer than Meowth and she didn't want to find out either. If Meowth lost this one -

Somehow Meowth managed to seize the upper hand, trapping Sneasel beneath him with his hind claws digging into his lumbar and arms firmly pinned. With all his other weapons thus occupied Meowth settled for sinking his teeth into his opponent's neck. Sneasel struggled and let out strangled cries of rage and pain.

"Try to get free, Sneasel!" Asma yelled redundantly.

"Snea-arg," he snarled. Ice Shards formed above them and stabbed down into Meowth's back, the sudden sharp pain forcing him to momentarily loosen his grip. The two pokémon slowly retreated to their own sides of the field. _Oh, boy. Another stalemate. Although … I'll bet my Meowth's got more vinegar._

"Your meowth's like a furry blender, it's pretty awesome," Asma called.

"Thank you, girl," Eve called back. "I have to admit, your sneasel's a tough one."

"Thank you girl," Asma said, doffing her hat with surprising elegance for a teenager. "He's tough enough to _beat you!_ Double Team, go!"

Sneasel's Double Team was a pack of a dozen copies deployed in a neat semi-circle. An unsubtle smirk appeared on Eve's face. "We can play that game better. Double Team!"

Meowth's Double Team clowder was faster, realer, arranged not in a regular formation but in a deliberately confusing swarm. A furious mêlée broke out with over two dozen dark shapes tearing in to one another. Eve quickly lost sight of the real Meowth in the chaos. Double Teams sporadically vanished like flickering shadows. One by one the sneasel copies disappeared but for some reason the meowth clowder was undiminished.

One of the cats slunk discreetly at the edge of the field. _There's my sneaky bastard._ A couple of Double Teams split off him, and he dived back into the fray. _That's how he managed it – hold on, that's two tricks he's thought up now. Really ought to have a word with him about that -_

"Find the real one, you can do it! Ice Shard, again!"

_Sodding _concentrate,_ Eve! _A flurry of Ice Shards ripped through the middle of the field, destroying meowth and sneasel copies alike. One of them yowled, staggering under the impact; the entire clowder instantly vanished.

"Arrgh!" Eve yelled in frustration.

"Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch," Asma said sympathetically as Meowth slipped off his feet, groaning.

"Hey! You alright, cat?" Eve called.

[Yeah, yeah, boss. I'm fine,] he said, pulling himself back to his feet. [Just caught me sharp.]

There were still remnants of Sneasel's Double Team on the field. For a brief moment Eve considered having Meowth repeat his Double Team – _Hmm, no, not aggressive enough_.

"Water Pulse! In fact," Eve ordered, "make it a barrage and close in!"

The first Water Pulse smashed down without hitting anything, splattering a fat wet V across the concrete. Hardly a second later another Water Pulse flattened a Double Team followed by another and another. Water fountained up in sheets, twisted into weird shapes by the competing pressure-waves of the bursting Pulses. What was left of Sneasel's Double Team vanished in the onslaught. Sneasel dodged around the Water Pulses with determined focus. Blasts of spray spontaneously froze around him, shattering delicately on the concrete or standing like abstract ice sculptures. He dodged beneath a rearing wave that froze into a perfect moment in time only to be immediately annihilated by a rogue pressure-wave.

"Come on, bring it back with Metal Claw!" Asma ordered.

Sneasel seemed to have trouble focusing, darting in completely the wrong direction before realising what he was doing and charging Meowth. Eve opened her mouth to give an order – too late and unnecessary – Sneasel whipped a Metal Claw at him, Meowth ducked under the attack and Slashed back with an uppercut.

Blood droplets flew, twinkling in the sun. Sneasel staggered, an unfocused, confused look on his face.

"Come on, Sneasel, I know you can do it! Asma yelled. "Sneasel!"

Meowth paced back and forth, anxious to unsheath his claws again, his tail lashing pugnaciously.

"Snea," Sneasel said thickly. He dropped heavily to one knee.

"Sneasel is unable to battle!" the referee ruled. "Meowth wins!"

"Oh, darn it. Come on back, Sneasel," Asma said resignedly.

"Whew," Eve said lightly, and giggled. Now there was a lull in the battle the jitters were rising again. The balance of power was in her favour, just about. She looked up into the stands, searched for a moment, and spotted Josh watching the battle with a thoughtful expression. She raised a fist in defiance again, rather more seriously this time. He half-smiled at her, not looking at all worried.

[Give him a kiss after,] Meowth said, contemplating his claws.

"Shut up, cat."

"Hey, Joy," Asma called, tossing a Great Ball up and down. "I gotcha no-ow! Let's go!" she flung the Ball at the middle of the field. "Hitmonchan!"

"Huh? Alright, fine," Eve said, recalling Meowth. "Lyra, you have the honour!"

As soon as she materialised Lyra buzzed up and out of Hitmonchan's reach. He guarded himself warily, never taking his eyes off her.

"But … what? _Ledian? _But, I thought …" Asma stammered like she'd been hit by Thunder Wave.

"Well, sure, why not?" Eve said, baffled.

"But, I thought you'd have a chansey … oh, bollocks."

"Yes, bollocks!" Eve barked. "Bollocks is the word! Lyra, Air Cutter!"

With a deft flick of her wings Lyra attacked; Hitmonchan hardly slipped aside before he was smashed off his feet in a cloud of dust.

"Uh, hit it with Close Combat!" Asma yelled desperately. Her hitmonchan earnestly essayed a leap and a swipe, but Lyra simply backed away, tracked his trajectory, and slammed down a third Air Cutter.

"Wait!" Asma shouted. "Stop. I admit defeat."

"Are you sure?" the referee asked.

"Yes. I forfeit."

"Ok, then. Asma Jameel has forfeit the battle! Evelina Joy is the winner!" he announced.

It took a moment for the words to sink in. Her fists slowly unballed. _She forfeit_. Eve giggled with relief and rubbed her eyes. The moment wasn't nearly as satisfying as fighting a battle to the absolute end, but – well, it was still a victory, fair and square.

[I reckon the charm worked, huh, Eve?] Lyra said, trying to land on her head.

"Hey, get off," Eve laughed, shoving her away. "You're too big for that since you evolved."

[I wanted to fight for this one. A clean sweep win!]

"Sixteen points – it's a good result for the Heats, Lyra."

[Will it be enough?]

People were leaving the stands now that the battle was over. Eve hung around her trainer's box while she looked for Josh. Lyra alighted next to her, folding her wings away with a snap. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Josh was one of the last to descend, behind a couple of reporters tapping at their tablets. He was still cradling little Megaera in the crook of one arm, lovingly feeding her from a bottle half-full of yellow juice. You could almost see the pastel pink bubbles.

Eve collapsed into a gale of laughter.

"What?" Josh protested, aggrieved.

"Y-you should have _said_, I'd have thrown you a shower!" Eve teased. He made a contemptuous gesture at her with the bottle.

"Look out boys, there's a new yummy mummy in the Sunshine City!" she giggled.

Josh waited stoically for her giggle fit to die down. "Finished yet?"

"For now," she said coyly.

"You fought a good battle," Josh said as they made their way from Court 2.

"I fought a lucky battle," Eve countered. "Nothing to do now but wait for the result, sweetling."

* * *

Ten thousand people were crowded into Bywater Amphitheatre again; this time, for the announcement of the quarter finalists. More than seventy Tigerlilies were standing in front of an empty podium and blank scoreboard. The occasional camera flash flickered from the stands. Whitney was in the front row again, fidgeting and chatting animatedly, like an athletic princess surrounded by her equally restless ladies-in-waiting. _They look as fidgety as I feel,_ Eve thought. She checked the time on her phone, yet again. The wait was becoming intolerable.

The big scoreboard above the podium was blank, idling, blazoned only with the bold orange flower logo of the Tourney. Not, unfortunately, with the names of the quarter finalists. Even the journalists had run out of notes to take – one of the press photographers in the second row was idly taking extra photos.

Josh resettled his cloche on his head for the umpteenth time, trying to hide more of his face beneath the bell brim. He glanced surreptitiously at the incessant photographer.

"Shall we just slip off after the announcement?" Eve said quietly.

"Thanks," he answered tersely. "Sorry I didn't win yesterday," he continued, feminising his voice somewhat.

Eve squeezed his hand briefly. "Stop apologising or I'll have to hurt you, sweetling."

About ten minutes later Victoria Pemberton took the podium to a round of sincere applause. In that moment Eve instantly forgave the Imperial Champion for the wait. She raised her hands for quiet, a patrician smile on her face.

"I can scarcely believe that it was a mere three days ago that I last stood here, tasting the anticipation of a new tournament. Girls, you do not disappoint. In the three days since you have brought hour after hour of fierce, determined, passionate battles to Bywater Courts – the like of which would hardly have been imagined when I first took up the mantle of pokémon trainer. Today, you fierce, passionate Tigerlilies will be pruned to just sixteen blooms! For those sixteen, the fiercest battles await. But I will not keep you waiting any longer!"

The big scoreboard blinked, the Tourney logo disappearing, replaced with two columns of eight smaller logos, like bullet points. _Ahhh, this is it!_ Eve's heart promptly skipped a beat or three; she focused ferociously on the scoreboard, mouth half-open.

"These trainers will be progressing from the Heats to the Quarter Finals -"

Laura Winters and Georgia Lovelace

Bonnie Blackwood and Ailsa Craig

Casey Lynwood and Morgan Harwich

Libby Berkowicz and Emily Warbeck

Tabitha Cheesewright and Rowan Morrison

Evelina Joy -

"Yes!" Eve roared, pumping her fist savagely. Yells and whoops of jubilation rang in her ears, along with a few despondent shouts and disappointed tears.

Evelina Joy and Melissa Evans

_I made it!_ She grabbed Josh round the neck and hugged him tight. She realised she was squeeing incoherently, and didn't care.

"Alright, alright, stop trying to throttle me!" Josh protested. Eve let him go, reluctantly.

"I'm pleased now," she said.

"Really," Josh said. "Eye eye, Lovelace at five."

Georgia Lovelace sidled up with absurd conspicuousness. "Evelina? And Melissa Evans, right?"

"What gave me away," Eve said sardonically, tugging at her hair and smiling.

"Congratulations, you made the cut!" Lovelace said cheerfully. "Laura and me, we're getting the quarter finalists together tomorrow, 'cause it's the rest day. You guys game?"

"Yeah, sounds good, we'll be there!" Eve answered, hardly thinking about it.

Josh didn't say anything while they exchanged phone numbers. When Lovelace moved on, he took a very deliberate breath. "In hindsight, not one of your most brilliant ideas, I think."

Through the happy victory-haze Eve suddenly realised that a night out as Melissa would also mean a night of constantly keeping his guard up. "… oops. Uh. Well, it would be more suspicious if I showed up without you, right?" she said lamely.

"Well, how could I deny the Sunshine City another yummy mummy," he said drily.

"Sweetling."

"Yes?"

"We're in the Quarter Finals!"

"Yes, Eevee."

* * *

Along Brightwater Mile, the electric night was brighter than the day. Brightwater used to be a trade artery in the Grand Trunk canal system, linking Goldenrod City to towns in the east – Cherrygrove, Blackthorn, and Mulberry. Now it was the heart of the city's eccentric culinary scene. The light from hundreds of lampposts, restaurant frontages, plasma billboards and neon signage reflected scintillantly off the waters of the canal. The narrow streets on either side were crowded with the odd denizens of the Mile, the assorted tourists, hipsterish nightclubbers and food connoisseurs. Flashily-decalled food trucks were parked up in almost every available space, selling cuisines from around the world: Olivine mussels, stir-fried chestnuts, baklava, panipura, hóngdòutāng. A multitude of equally endecalled narrowboats lined the towpath. Most of them were the riverine equivalent of the food truck, converted into floating bars and canal pubs.

Eve cheerily wove her way down the Mile, sharing a long skewer of fried crickets with Lyra. She watched with mild interest as four officers struggled to arrest an especially belligerent drunk. _Now … where's the _Sunshine Pavillion_? _she thought, checking Lovelace's instructions on her phone.

"I still don't like this" Josh said as Melissa.

"Will you relax?" Eve said. "You're like, the least interesting sight on this street."

"You have a leg between your teeth," he replied sourly.

"Stop scowling. It's not a good look on Melissa."

"This was _your_ idea."

"Sweetling," she warned him, putting a little iron into her tone.

The _Sunshine Pavillion _was moored further down the towpath. The proprieter had crammed a few tables onto his pitch, which were forming the focus of the narrowboat's customers. Some of the Tigerlilies were there, Sister Ginnie and her partner obvious in their black habits.

"Oh, heyy, hey again Eve!" Ginnie trilled. "And, Melissa, right? Oh, this is my buddy Mara."

Mara didn't really say 'hi' so much as vaguely nod and smile while avoiding eye contact. There was a somewhat anaemic, translucent quality to the girl, like someone had painted her in watercolours. An irate-looking murkrow perched on her shoulder, feathers all fluffed up.

The other two Tigerlilies were both teenagers, about sixteen or so. One of them wore a Girl Guide's neckerchief; the other was a Dragon Tamer, red cloaked, with a juvenile dratini coiled around her arm.

"How betide ye, Eve? I'm Bonnie," the Guide said. "From Frazerburgh. The dragon girl's my battle partner."

"Aye, aye. Ailsa Craig, from Frazerburgh too," the Dragon Tamer said, tickling her dratini under the chin. "Now. Here's a question – what are a couple of nuns doing out on Brightwater Mile at night? Sounds like there should be something scandalous in that," she jested.

"We're Municipal Sisters, we're allowed to go out! Actually, we kinda have to," Ginnie mused. "We're still forbidden to drink, mind."

"Well, _I_ want a drink," Eve told Josh as an aside. He shrugged shallowly. Eve hopped down onto the deck of the _Sunshine Pavillion –_ just wide enough for a row of patrons to stand at the bar – and ordered a couple of glasses of merlot. _Is a glass still a glass when it's made of plastic?_ she wondered.

With a glass in each hand, Eve turned round and came face-to-face with a large pair of tits.

"Um … hi?" Eve said.

"Cute, aren't they?" said Georgia Lovelace. She was standing up on the edge of the towpath.

"Um, yeah, I suppose so." Eve pulled herself together and jumped back onto the street.

"Yours are pretty pretty, too," Lovelace continued relentlessly. "Hi again, Melissa!"

Eve recognised the expression Josh very carefully wasn't displaying. "Don't you say a word," she warned.

Lovelace was as talkative as Winters was quiet, eagerly engaging with all the other Tigerlilies, charming them with her Unovan accent. Ten of the quarter finalists were there, all told: Lovelace and Winters, Sister Ginnie and Mara, Bonnie Blackwood and the Dragon Tamer Ailsa Craig. The last two Tigerlilies appeared about half an hour after Eve and Josh. Eve sort-of remembered Emily Warbeck, dirty blonde with a squint in one eye, dressed in a crisp white blazer. She liked Warbeck's partner. Libby Berkowicz was delightfully, distractingly eccentric – like the parody of a film noir character, with her bright gold-blonde hair and scarlet dress, constantly wreathed in a grey haze of cigarette smoke.

"Why the white coat, by the way?" Bonnie asked Warbeck.

"Because she's a freak," Berkowicz immediately answered.

"Some people would say 'gifted' or 'different'," Warbeck said mildly.

"What's the difference?"

"It's my school uniform," Warbeck explained to Bonnie, apparently brushing that off.

"Oh, which school?" Lovelace asked.

"Saffron City Gym."

"A gifted school," Berkowicz said pointedly, taking a drag on her cigarette.

Warbeck made a snatching gesture at the air – the cigarette detatched itself from Berkowicz's lips mid-puff and flew to Warbeck's hand. She examined it critically for a moment, then tossed it over her shoulder into the canal.

"Whoops," she said.

"Ah, you're a psychic!" Ailsa exclaimed redundantly. There was a burst of appreciative chatter, Warbeck giggling amiably while Berkowicz lit another cigarette.

"How do psychic powers, like, work? I've always wondered," Lovelace said.

"Hmm, you probably knew you have to be born with them. Psychics aren't as rare as you might think, though. It's quite common for people to not realise they have latent Potential. Write off a short-period premonition as intuition, that kind of thing …"

Eve glanced sidelong at Josh, apparently shyly listening to the conversation. He hadn't said a word since they'd arrived, letting the bigger personalities dominate the centre of attention. He'd hardly touched his wine, either.

"- um, it's hard to describe what Manifesting feels like. It's, it's like dreaming – no, it's like … making your imagination real, but. You're meditating …" she trailed off helplessly.

"Where do gestures come in to it?" Josh unexpectedly piped up.

"Aha, well," Warbeck said, giggling, "strictly speaking only the mind is needed to Manifest. The somatic components … they're props, really, to help focus the imagination. Every school has its own somatic tradition -"

"It's all rather mystical, really," Berkowicz broke in dreamily.

There was an awkward silence.

"So. Er …" Bonnie said. "I cannae quite believe we've made it to the Quarter Finals."

"Official Tigerlilies now," Ailsa added. Her dratini keened in agreement.

"Aye, aye, aye. Are ye excited, Libby?"

Berkowicz exhaled a plume of smoke. "Oh, _yes_, I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a little girl." She paused to let that sarky comment sink in. "I'm in it for the gifted girl."

Warbeck just laughed indulgently, as if she had said something adorably precocious. "She's cranky without her vodka. You stay put, I'll get you a drink."

" … she's _my _freak," Berkowicz said defensively.

"Me and Laura, we've been dreaming of this moment since _last _year," Lovelace said. The others gave her a questioning look. "We were Tigerlilies last year too."

"Whaaat, I don't remember that!" Ginnie blurted out. "How'd you do?"

"We got to the finals," Lovelace said, smirking.

"And this time we're gonna win," Winters put in resolutely.

Eve really couldn't help herself. She couldn't let Winters' adamant tone stand unchallenged, nor Lovelace's confident smirk. "Wrong! The next Tigerlily Champion will be a Cherrygrove City girl!"

Lovelace's smirk deepened slightly. "I'm not, uh, sure your lineage is like, applicable here?" she said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"No offence, but your family doesn't exactly have a proud tradition of turning out great pokémon trainers," Winters replied brusquely.

"Is that so," Eve said coldly. There was a subtle change in the atmosphere. Smiles became decidedly fixed.

"- being a nurse is ok and all, but it's really _domestic_," Lovelace commented. "A ton of feminist glory in that."

"I can't think of any _elite _Joys, I suppose," Warbeck said carefully.

"There's always a first time," Eve growled, though she was looking at Lovelace. "My predecessors are no reason why I can't beat you."

"Well, we're better than you," Winters said bluntly. "Better tactics, better teams -"

Josh laid a steadying hand on Eve's arm before she could rebut. "Nice try, Winters. You won't get tactical information that way."

"Shut up Mel, no-one talks to me like that!" Eve snapped, refusing to be pacified. "I – mnphf!"

Her nascent tirade was abruptly cut short by Josh's hand deftly placed over her mouth. "Excuse us!" he said brightly, towing her – too shocked to fight him – well out of earshot.

"Eevee -" he started, letting her go. _He shut you up! He bloody well shut you up!_

"This had better be good," she growled.

"All that's just a tactic, you know," he said, subtly nodding at Lovelace and Winters.

"I don't bloody care!"

"Will you _listen?_ What's going to make your point better, breathing fire now or crushing them in battle?"

"Why can't I have both?" Eve said stubbornly.

"Eevee," Josh said with glacial patience, "if they want to play games, then play that game better. Let them think you're just a mediocre trainer with a hot temper, and give nothing away."

Eve scowled at him, but said nothing. That made perfect sense, damnit. "You're a cunning little bastard, at least."

"Don't you compare me to that cat," Josh retaliated. She wasn't sure whether that was a joke or not.

Eve drained her glass, and silently reminded herself that Josh was on _her _side. "Behave," she said diplomatically.

* * *

In the very earliest hours of the morning, a freshly-showered Eve yawned hugely and tied her hair back. Josh's Pokégear radio was on – it was her turn to choose the station. _Probably Lovelace and Winters are gonna be the Tigerlilies to beat,_ she thought muzzily. Six Gym Badges between them, finalists last year … maybe that should make her feel nervous – it put Josh on guard at least – but instead it simply made her more eager to beat them.

Eve pushed her hands into the pouch of her hoodie dress and yawned again, feeling entirely ready for bed. Actually she was beginning to think she'd had one too many glasses of wine on the Mile tonight. Pineco was sitting quietly out of the way, completely devoid of ablative armour for the first time since she'd caught her. She seemed to like hanging around outside the Ball, just to do nothing, apparently.

"Been walking my mind to an easy time, my back turned towards the sun,

Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around."

Josh was standing in front of the open window, gazing out west.

"Whatcha doing, Mel?" Eve asked curiously.

"… can you feel it?" he said cryptically.

"What?"

"The sea."

"I don't understand, sweetling."

"Never mind … just preoccupied," he said unhelpfully.

"Ready for bed?" she asked, deciding she felt too tipsy to figure all that out.

"Yeah, I suppose so. For the record, you're not putting me through something like that again -"

A bright light suddenly glimmered off Josh's glasses. There was no mistaking that glow.

Pineco was starting to evolve. She glowed steadily without metamorphosing. For a moment Eve worried that something was wrong – then Pineco swelled into a knurled sphere. Four stubby siphons extruded from the waist.

The new-evolved Forretress was still small for her species, hardly bigger than she'd been as a pineco. She didn't react to her transformation, staring blankly off into space.

"Are you ok?" Eve asked her. Her body language was completely inscrutable. Suddenly, she slammed her shell closed with a clang, and sat there silent, like a giant steel oak gall.

"What was that about?" Josh said from the top bunk.

"I think she needs time to adjust," she replied. Evolution seemed to have come as a bit of a shock. Eve wasn't sure why she'd evolved now; Pineco – Forretress – had been eating a rich diet, but she didn't think it was _that _rich.

Eve picked a leaflet off her bunk and tossed it to the floor before getting in. It landed face up, displaying the fixtures for the Quarter Finals to the ceiling:

Libby Berkowicz and Emily Warbeck

vs

Tabitha Cheesewright and Rowan Morrison

Laura Winters and Georgia Lovelace

vs

Casey Lynwood and Morgan Harwich

Bonnie Blackwood and Ailsa Craig

vs

Katie Merry and Marika Spicer

Evelina Joy and Melissa Evans

vs

Sister Guinevere and Sister Mara


End file.
